Functional Supramolecular Polymers for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

As a novel class of dynamic and non-covalent polymers, supramolecular polymers not only display specific structural and physicochemical properties, but also have the ability to undergo reversible changes of structure, shape, and function in response to diverse external stimuli, making them promising candidates for widespread applications ranging from academic research to industrial fields. By an elegant combination of dynamic/reversible structures with exceptional functions, functional supramolecular polymers are attracting increasing attention in various fields. In particular, functional supramolecular polymers offer several unique advantages, including inherent degradable polymer backbones, smart responsiveness to various biological stimuli, and the ease for the incorporation of multiple biofunctionalities (e.g., targeting and bioactivity), thereby showing great potential for a wide range of applications in the biomedical field. In this Review, the trends and representative achievements in the design and synthesis of supramolecular polymers with specific functions are summarized, as well as their wide-ranging biomedical applications such as drug delivery, gene transfection, protein delivery, bio-imaging and diagnosis, tissue engineering, and biomimetic chemistry. These achievements further inspire persistent efforts in an emerging interdisciplin-ary research area of supramolecular chemistry, polymer science, material science, biomedical engineering, and nanotechnology.

Supramolecular Polymers: Historical Development, Preparation, Characterization, and Functions

“…Although a vast number of supramolecular polymeric assemblies have been studied for biomedical applications, 287 we just select several examples of typical supramolecular polymers and illustrate their potential applications in the fields of tissue engineering, protein delivery, drug delivery, gene transfection, and bioimaging.…”

Recent advances in crosslinking chemistry of biomimetic poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels

“…Macromolecular/supramolecular assembled hydrogels are favorable in many applications because gelation is induced by a purely physical process, which does not rely on radical species. [93] However, compared with covalently crosslinked hydrogels, these gels can have weaker mechanical properties due to the instability of the physical interactions between macromolecules. The most commonly used functionality in macromolecules suitable for forming self-assembled hydrogels are amphiphilic cyclodextrins (CD), including α-CD, β-CD, and γ-CD, which are composed of 6, 7, and 8 cyclic saccharides, respectively.…”

Modular supramolecular ureidopyrimidinone polymer carriers for intracellular delivery

“…[6][7][8][9] Some examples of supramolecular polymers include materials based on discotic benzene tricarboxamides, 10 porphyrins, 11 carbohydrate conjugated aromatics, 12 and peptide amphiphiles. 13 However, few examples exist on the use of 1D supramolecular polymers for use in intracellular delivery, [14][15][16] while they can serve as a potentially attractive platform.…”