Supramolecular assembly of photofunctional dendrimers for biomedical nano-devices

Recently, dendrimers are attracting much attention for their development as biomedical nano-devices. In the present paper, we introduce dendrimer photosensitizers, composed of a focal photosensitizing unit surrounded by poly(benzyl ether) dendritic wedges, for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Ionic dendritic porphyrins (DPs) formed supramolecular polyion complex (PIC) micelles through the electrostatic interaction with oppositely charged block copolymers, and showed no self-quenching effect of the focal photosensitizing unit due to the large dendritic wedges. The DP-loaded PIC micelles showed selective accumulation to the ophthalmic neovascular lesion and effective photodynamic effect. For the effective light delivery, dendrimer phthalocyanine (DPc) has also been developed and examined for its photodynamic effect.