Supramolecular complexation of cucurbit[6]uril and doxorubicin-based guests with slow dissociation was developed for pH-responsive controlled release. The dissociation half-life of supramolecular complex was up to 31.8 h under physiological condition,...

Water-soluble three-dimensional supramolecular-organic frameworks (SOFs) and temoporfin (mTHPC) are discovered to form uniform self-assembly nanoparticles. These nanoparticles demonstrate an improved 1O2 generation efficiency due to a reduced aggregation-caused quenching effect....

Smart supramolecular vesicles constructed by host–guest interactions between “acid‐degradable” acyclic cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]) and a doxorubicin prodrug are reported. “Acid‐degradable” acyclic CB[n] is a high‐affinity host for several common antitumor drugs, and its degradation leads to a more dramatic decrease in binding affinity than that observed for “acid‐sensitive” hosts. Supramolecular complexation between acid‐degradable acyclic CB[n] and a doxorubicin prodrug resulted in the formation of negatively charged supramolecular vesicles. The prodrug strategy allowed doxorubicin to be conjugated to vesicles in a stable manner with a high drug‐loading ratio of 20 %. The resulting supramolecular vesicles were responsive to tumor acidity (pH 6.5). Induced by mildly acidic conditions (pH 6.5–5.5), acid‐degradable acyclic CB[n] could be degraded, and this led to a vesicle‐to‐micelle transition to form positively charged micelles. This transition resulted in a pH‐dependent change in size and surface charge, which improved tumoral‐cell uptake for doxorubicin.

A supramolecular nanomedicine for improved chemo–photodynamic therapy.