Self‐Assembled Nanomedicines for Anticancer and Antibacterial Applications

Abstract

Self-assembly strategies have been widely applied in the nanomedicine field, which provide a convenient approach for building various structures for delivery carriers. When cooperating with biomolecules, self-assembly systems have significant influence on the cell activity and life process and could be used for regulating nanodrug activity. In this review, self-assembled nanomedicines are introduced, including materials, encapsulation, and releasing strategies, where self-assembly strategies are involved. Furthermore, as a promising and emerging area for nanomedicine, in situ self-assembly of anticancer drugs and supramolecular antibiotic switches is also discussed about how to regulate drug activity. Selective pericellular assembly can block mass transformation of cancer cells inducing cell apoptosis, and the intracellular assembly can either cause cell death or effectively avoid drug elimination from cytosol of cancer cells because of the assembly-induced retention (AIR) effect. Host-guest interactions of drug and competitive molecules offer reversible regulations of antibiotic activity, which can reduce drug-resistance and inhibit the generation of drug-resistant bacteria. Finally, the challenges and development trend in the field are discussed.

Redox‐Responsive Self‐Assembled Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy

“…For example, amphiphilic embedded or grafted polymers incorporated with functional groups that respond to the corresponding external and internal stimuli self-assemble into stimuli-responsive self-assembled NPs with a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic shell. [10,11] This makes the construction of drug-loaded nanocarriers easier, solves the pharmacy problems of hydrophobic drugs and low bioavailability, and achieves increased amounts of anticancer agents at the tumor site. [12][13][14] As an aspect of research focusing on polymer area, supramolecular self-assembly for the development of stimuli-responsive NPs has also been studied by researchers.…”

Recent Advances of Persistent Luminescence Nanoparticles in Bioapplications

“…Among various therapeutic technologies, chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) are mostly studied due to their obvious treatment effects. With the remarkable penetration depth and biocompatibility, PLNPs can be integrated to provide various PL imaging-guided therapies [120].…”

pH‐responsive chitosan/sulfobutyl ether‐β‐cyclodextrin supramolecular nanoparticles for controlled release of sodium ferulate

“…[15] However, the biological functions of pH-responsive nanoparticles are mainly limited to their antitumor activities, while there are relatively few studies on the treatment of other acute and chronic diseases worldwide, such as cardio cerebrovascular diseases. [3,[30][31][32][33] In this study, sulfobutyl ether-β-CD (SBE 7 -β-CD) and CS were chosen as building blocks to construct a pH-responsive nanoparticles. SBE 7 -β-CD is an anion β-CD derivative with higher negative charge density and higher water solubility.…”