Supramolecular Vesicles for Stimulus‐Responsive Drug Delivery

Abstract

Developing smart controlled‐release systems for cancer therapy is highly desired in biomedicine. In order to improve therapeutic efficacy and lower undesired side effects, the construction of stimulus‐responsive nanocarriers is a favorable solution. Emerging supramolecular self‐assemblies possessing intrinsic dynamic and adaptive features present promising capabilities for the fabrication of stimulus‐responsive drug‐release systems. Dynamic supramolecular vesicles have attracted considerable attention as therapeutic carriers ascribed to their advantages of high‐cargo‐loading capacity/feasibility, excellent biocompatibility, and facile functionalization. Here, a summary and discussion of recent significant development of vesicles constructed by supramolecular self‐assembly for stimulus‐responsive drug delivery and therapeutics is given. Through presenting some representative studies, strategies regarding the design, synthesis, characterization, and biomedical applications of supramolecular vesicle carriers are highlighted according to various stimulus triggers. The aim is to provide a quick research update in this rapidly developing field.

Stimuli-Responsive Drug-Delivery Systems Based on Supramolecular Nanovalves

“…Motivated by the necessity of drug safety and efficacy, it follows that the gated materials have been extensively studied, mainly including supramolecular polymers and supramolecular pseudorotaxanes for stimuli-responsive drug delivery, which not only endow the delivery systems with flexible and robust attributes of non-covalent interactions but also meet the urgent need of human healthcare. [18][19][20] Drug-delivery systems immobilized with supramolecular nanovalves, emerging as a compelling topic of interest, have been realized in medical platforms of late. 7,10 Such a functional delivery platform generally consists of porous inorganic or hybrid scaffolds and switchable gatekeepers installed on the surface of nanocarriers to block and unlock the pore entrances.…”

Solvent‐Controlled Assembly of Aromatic Glutamic Dendrimers for Efficient Luminescent Color Conversion

“…[8b] The ordered organic‐inorganic composites include zeolite‐organic dye host–guest systems,[8c] organosilicate nanomaterials,[8d] and organic dye–quantum dot hybrids. [8e,f] In another example, the cargo–lipid interactions in designing liposomes for theranostic applications have significant influence on the cargo loading efficiency, liposomal colloidal stability, and cancer treatment efficacy . The selectivity between separated and integrated aggregations could be tuned by adjusting thermodynamic and kinetic variables .…”

Research advances in the synthesis and applications of ferrocene‐based electro and photo responsive materials

“…The redox chemistry of ferrocene helps to decrease the cytotoxicity of UV irradiation which makes the in vivo applications more feasible. The inclusion of ferrocene in these systems serves as mediators to provide an oxidative electron path . Wan et al .…”