中文摘要：

树枝状大分子是具有独特的三维高度支化结构、表面分布大量氨基或羧基的纳米粒子，是一类重要的药物（基因）传递载体，近年有关树枝状大分子细胞生物学效应的研究报道不断增多，内容涉及树枝状大分子对各种细胞的作用、进入细胞的机制、在细胞内和各种组织器官内的分布等诸多方面；与此同时，许多实验室也采用不同的方法对树枝状大分子进行表面化学修饰，降低其对细胞和机体的负面作用，使其在药物运载、基因治疗、重大疾病早期诊断等方面获得广泛的应用。本文主要对近年这些研究的最新进展进行综合归纳与评述。

英文摘要：

Dendrimers are highly branched macromolecules that have attractive nano-sized architectures. It seems that they can enter various cells easily because of their unique nanostructures and chemical properties, which make them to be one of important candidates of non-virus carriers for drug delivery or gene therapy. However, the understanding of cytotoxicity and related mechanisms of dendrimers are still limited. In recent years there has been rapid increases of researches regarding the biological effects of dendrimers, inclucling the interactions of dendrimers to cells, transport mechanisms, intracellular distribution and biodistribution in vivo, as well as improvement of biocompatibility of dendrimers by surface engineering. In this paper, recent advances in the investigations of biological effect and surface modification for the dendrimers as drug or gene delivery systems were reviewed.