Two decades of dendrimers as versatile MRI agents: a tale with and without metals

Dendrimers or dendritic polymers are a class of compounds with great potential for nanomedical use. Some of their properties, including their rigidity, low polydispersity and the ease with which their surfaces can be modified make them particularly well suited for use as MRI diagnostic or theranostic agents. For the past 20 years, researchers have recognized this potential and refined dendrimer formulations to optimize these nanocarriers for a host of MRI applications, including blood pool imaging agents, lymph node imaging agents, tumor-targeted theranostic agents and cell tracking agents. This review summarizes the various types of dendrimers according to the type of MR contrast they can provide. This includes the metallic T₁, T₂ and paraCEST imaging agents, and the non-metallic diaCEST and fluorinated (¹⁹F) heteronuclear imaging agents. This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > In Vivo Nanodiagnostics and Imaging Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanomaterials and Implants.