Synthetic Self‐Assembled Materials in Biological Environments

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.