The making of biorelevant nanomaterials

The interactions of biological macromolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and polysaccharide-protein conjugates can be mimicked by artificial polyelectrolytes. Such synthetic polyionic complexes are expected to serve as novel platforms to stabilize and deliver drugs, proteins, or nucleic acids. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Chinese investigators have introduced a versatile, commercially applicable preparation strategy of such nanomaterials with tunable morphology. The preparation of libraries of these low-dimensional biorelevant nanostructures can be envisaged.