Emerging Supramolecular Therapeutic Carriers Based on Host–Guest Interactions

Abstract

Recent advances in host–guest chemistry have significantly influenced the construction of supramolecular soft biomaterials. The highly selective and non‐covalent interactions provide vast possibilities of manipulating supramolecular self‐assemblies at the molecular level, allowing a rational design to control the sizes and morphologies of the resultant objects as carrier vehicles in a delivery system. In this Focus Review, the most recent developments of supramolecular self‐assemblies through host–guest inclusion, including nanoparticles, micelles, vesicles, hydrogels, and various stimuli‐responsive morphology transition materials are presented. These sophisticated materials with diverse functions, oriented towards therapeutic agent delivery, are further summarized into several active domains in the areas of drug delivery, gene delivery, co‐delivery and site‐specific targeting deliveries. Finally, the possible strategies for future design of multifunctional delivery carriers by combining host–guest chemistry with biological interface science are proposed.

How Can We fine-tune Nanoparticles to Improve Drug delivery?

“…As a drug delivery concept in nanotechnology, it strives to develop nanoscale materials for selective infusion of therapeutic drugs or pharmaceutical compounds to specific cells. It consists of submicron-sized colloidal particles such as nanoparticles, micelles, liposomes and vesicles [2]. These sophisticated materials have shown compelling results in their ability to transport a diverse range of pharmaceutical compounds to various parts of the human system including cells, tissues and organs for sustained periods of time [3][4][5].…”

Stimuli‐responsive Supra‐biomolecular Nanoassemblies of Cucurbit[7]uril with Bovine Serum Albumin: Drug Delivery and Sensor Applications

“…[1][2][3][4] In this context, supramolecular assemblies of proteins with macrocyclic hosts are extremely interesting, both from the view point of its fundamental/mechanistic aspects and also on the details of its applied potentials. [1][2][3][4] In this context, supramolecular assemblies of proteins with macrocyclic hosts are extremely interesting, both from the view point of its fundamental/mechanistic aspects and also on the details of its applied potentials.…”

“…Practically, the controlled release of guest molecules are attempted in response to various external stimuli such as temperature, pH, light, salt, enzymes, etc. [1,7] The development of such biocompatible, stimuli-responsive and controlled release nanoassemblies have become a prime focus in biomedical fields and also in in vivo applications. [6] A number of synthetic macrocyclic host molecules including cyclodextrins (CDs), cucurbit[n]urils (CBn), calixarenes (CXs), etc.…”

“…have been employed to engineer the surface of protein molecules as these macrocycles have been established to be biocompatible. [1,8,[11][12][13][14] Additionally, the peripheral electron defficient carbon centers of the CBn also provide a credible site for the interaction of anionic guests. [4] The highly selective and specific non-covalent interactions among the proteins and the cavitands under the preset solution conditions allow a rational design to control the sizes and morphologies of the resultant nanoassemblies.…”

Incorporation of Polycaprolactone to Cyclodextrin‐Based Nanocarrier for Potent Gene Delivery

“…The significant advantage of viral vectors over other vector platforms is the high transfection efficiency in cells of quiescent and dividing status, previous studies reported that gene transfection was lower in these cell types, thus viral vectors were regarded to be optimal in certain applications . However, viral vector systems are not suitable for all applications . For instance, macrophage cells are resistant to the viral‐mediated gene transfection, and the administration of viral vectors easily induced immune response to produce proinflammatory cytokines and extensive toxicity in vivo .…”