Nanorod suprastructures constructed by the coordination of zinc ions with the inclusion complex of 4,4′-dipyridine in β-cyclodextrin can dissociate and rebuild repeatedly via alternate visible light irradiation in the presence of photoacid merocyanine in aqueous solution.

Accurate imaging of soft tissues is one of the ultimate goals in biomedical imaging. Different imaging modalities can improve their disadvantages, and promote the imaging ability. However, once an imaging agent has been prepared, it is usually hard to adjust it according to the actual needs. Herein, we developed a supramolecular brush polymer (SBP) as a versatile imaging agent platform. The SBP platform (SBPP) is constructed by the intermolecular inclusion complexation of bridged tris(β-cyclodextrin) (1) with Mn(III)-porphyrin-bearing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side chains (Mn(III)-TPP), and can further bind other functional groups by host–guest interactions of cyclodextrin and adamantine. The SBPP is characterized by UV/vis absorption spectroscopy, NMR, dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We demonstrated that this SBPP not only has no cellular toxicity against NIH 3T3 cells in in vitro cell experiments, but it also shows an efficient enhanced T1 relaxivity in in vitro MR imaging experiments. When used as multifunctional imaging agents, different imaging probes and/or targeting agents can be introduced to this SBPP as needed through simple host–guest interactions. In in vitro imaging experiments, it shows accurate imaging of different kinds of cancer cells by choosing on-demand targeting agents. These results suggest a promising strategy for engineering multifunctional imaging agents with SBPs.

Nanorod-like supramolecular aggregates are fabricated by the self-assembly of the amphiphilic [2]pseudorotaxane, which can be dissociated and rebuilt by the alternating UV/vis irradiation.

A water-soluble supramolecular polypseudorotaxane was prepared via the host–guest interaction of cucurbit[8]uril and the Ru(bpy)3 complex with bis-naphthalene groups. By employing the intrinsic properties of the Ru(bpy)3 complex, the linear polypseudorotaxane can induce DNA condensation, be used as an inhibitor for DNA cleavage enzymes, and trace the translocation of DNA into 293T cells efficiently.

Nanorod suprastructures constructed by the coordination of zinc ions with the inclusion complex of 4,4′-dipyridine in β-cyclodextrin can dissociate and rebuild repeatedly via alternate visible light irradiation in the presence of photoacid merocyanine in aqueous solution.

Nanorod-like supramolecular aggregates are fabricated by the self-assembly of the amphiphilic [2]pseudorotaxane, which can be dissociated and rebuilt by the alternating UV/vis irradiation.

A water-soluble supramolecular polypseudorotaxane was prepared via the host–guest interaction of cucurbit[8]uril and the Ru(bpy)3 complex with bis-naphthalene groups. By employing the intrinsic properties of the Ru(bpy)3 complex, the linear polypseudorotaxane can induce DNA condensation, be used as an inhibitor for DNA cleavage enzymes, and trace the translocation of DNA into 293T cells efficiently.

Accurate imaging of soft tissues is one of the ultimate goals in biomedical imaging. Different imaging modalities can improve their disadvantages, and promote the imaging ability. However, once an imaging agent has been prepared, it is usually hard to adjust it according to the actual needs. Herein, we developed a supramolecular brush polymer (SBP) as a versatile imaging agent platform. The SBP platform (SBPP) is constructed by the intermolecular inclusion complexation of bridged tris(β-cyclodextrin) (1) with Mn(III)-porphyrin-bearing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side chains (Mn(III)-TPP), and can further bind other functional groups by host–guest interactions of cyclodextrin and adamantine. The SBPP is characterized by UV/vis absorption spectroscopy, NMR, dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We demonstrated that this SBPP not only has no cellular toxicity against NIH 3T3 cells in in vitro cell experiments, but it also shows an efficient enhanced T1 relaxivity in in vitro MR imaging experiments. When used as multifunctional imaging agents, different imaging probes and/or targeting agents can be introduced to this SBPP as needed through simple host–guest interactions. In in vitro imaging experiments, it shows accurate imaging of different kinds of cancer cells by choosing on-demand targeting agents. These results suggest a promising strategy for engineering multifunctional imaging agents with SBPs.