As a novel class of three-dimensional (3D) hydrophilic cross-linked polymers, supramolecular hydrogels not only display unique physicochemical properties (e.g., water-retention ability, drug loading capacity, biodegradability and biocompatibility, biostability) as well as specific functionalities (e.g., optoelectronic properties, bioactivity, self-healing ability, shape memory ability), but also have the capability to undergo reversible gel–sol transition in response to various environmental stimuli inherent to the noncovalent cross-linkages, thereby showing great potential as promising biomaterial scaffolds for diagnosis and therapy. In this Review, we summarized the recent progress in the design and synthesis of supramolecular hydrogels through specific, directional noncovalent interactions, with particular emphasis on the structure–property relationship, as well as their wide-ranging applications in disease diagnosis and therapy including bioimaging, biodetection, therapeutic delivery, and tissue engineering. We believe that these current achievements in supramolecular hydrogels will greatly stimulate new ideas and inspire persistent efforts in this hot topic area in future.

A novel class of redox-responsive cationic supramolecular polymer with effective DNA condensation ability and H₂O₂-induced DNA release behavior has been successfully constructed from small molecules. This supramolecular polymer can be used in vitro as a promising nonviral vector for gene therapy.

This tutorial review summarizes recent advances in salient features of digital synthetic polymers for data storage, including encoding, decoding, editing, erasing, encrypting, and repairing.

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore based copolymers with temperature-induced emission enhancement properties were successfully prepared and applied for biodetection. First, diblock copolymers (PEG-b-PNIPAM-c) with different poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) chain lengths were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) employing a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) macroinitiator and then modified with a GFP chromophore at one chain end through a click reaction. Owing to the different PNIPAM chain lengths, the block copolymers exhibited thermoresponsive phase transitions with adjustable lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Above the LCST, the fluorescence intensity of PEG-b-PNIPAM-c was enhanced dramatically, which could be attributed to the chromophore's conformational restriction by the collapse of PNIPAM blocks. Moreover, the emission intensity of PEG-b-PNIPAM-c increased with the PNIPAM chain length. Correspondingly, the temperature-dependent fluorescence enhancement properties of PEG-b-PNIPAM-c were successfully applied in the highly sensitive detection of Bacillus thermophilus with a 10² cfu per mL detection limit.

Theranostic agents based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and photothermal therapy (PTT) play an important role in tumor therapy. However, the available theranostic agents are facing great challenges such as biocompatibility, MRI contrast effect and photothermal conversion efficiency (η). In this work, mesoporous polydopamine nanoparticles (MPDAPs/Mn) were prepared on MRI and PTT combined theranostic nanoplatforms, of which the high loading manganese ions and specific surface areas enable good MRI contrast and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency, respectively. The MPDAPs/Mn have uniform morphology, good stability and biocompatibility. Meanwhile, in vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed their superior T₁-weighted MRI effect and photothermal conversion efficiency. Furthermore, MPDAPs/Mn have excellent antitumor efficacy in HeLa tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, this developed MPDAPs/Mn theranostic nanoplatform could be a promising candidate for MRI-guided photothermal cancer therapy.