title: Synthetic Self-Assembled Materials in Biological Environments.
abstract: Synthetic self-assembly has long been recognized as an excellent approach for the formation of ordered structures on the nanoscale. Although the development of synthetic self-assembling materials has often been inspired by principles observed in nature (e.g., the assembly of lipids, DNA, proteins), until recently the self-assembly of synthetic molecules has mainly been investigated ex vivo. The past few years however, have witnessed the emergence of a research field in which synthetic, self-assembling systems are used that are capable of operating as bioactive materials in biological environments. Here, this up-and-coming field, which has the potential of becoming a key area in chemical biology and medicine, is reviewed. Two main categories of applications of self-assembly in biological environments are identified and discussed, namely therapeutic and imaging agents. Within these categories key concepts, such as triggers and molecular constraints for in vitro/in vivo self-assembly and the mode of interaction between the assemblies and the biological materials will be discussed.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Soft Matter Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628BL, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Versluis
authors.affiliation: Advanced Soft Matter Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628BL, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: van Esch
authors.affiliation: Advanced Soft Matter Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628BL, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rienk
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eelkema
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry; D016923:Cell Death; D002477:Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D005453:Fluorescence; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D004798:Enzymes
keywords: biomaterials; cellular imaging; enzymes; self-assembly; therapeutics