Supramolecular interactions refer to noncovalent interactions between molecules such as hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, host-guest interaction, electrostatic interaction or π-π stacking. The inherently dynamic properties of these interactions enable building blocks to undergo reversible transitions between monomer and supramolecular polymer, which are essential for many cellular machineries and living systems. Inspired by the important role of supramolecular architectures in biological systems, using biomacromolecules as building block is particularly available to a new generation of biomaterials integrated with living systems due to their intrinsic properties such as accurate recognition, self-organization, and adaptability. Among these biomacromolecules, carbohydrates and proteins are tightly related. Carbohydrate modification improves the stability of proteins and regulates their function. Meanwhile, the important part of the function of carbohydrates is expressed by their binding to proteins. More importantly, the complexity and diversity of proteins and carbohydrates make them a unique class of building blocks for generating precisely self-assembled biomaterials.<br/>Herein, we focus on the use of supramolecular interactions, particularly protein-carbohydrate recognition, to build precise proteins and carbohydrate assemblies. On the one hand, via employ proteins as building block, a variety of multidimensional architectures can be designed, including 1D nanotube and nanorod, 2D nanosheet, and 3D crystal. These microstructures offered a series of structures imitative of the diverse natural machineries, showing a promising way to fabricate nanodevices and nanomachines. On the other hand, carbohydrate-based assemblies can be utilized for fabricating immune-relevant biomaterials, due to carbohydrates play an important role in mediating intercellular communication and modulating immune responses. The in vitro studies indicated that these assemblies displaying multivalent carbohydrates can significantly modulate the production of cytokines, suggesting a potential application in immunomodulation and immunotherapy.

Precise assembly of proteins and carbohydrates for next-generation biomaterials

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