An outline of the use of supramolecular compounds in biology and medicine

Abstract

Supramolecular chemistry opened up opportunities and prospects in biological studies. Numerous supramolecular systems are known which assume different shapes depending on the structure of the component molecules. Some of them are mixed systems. Ribbon-like supramolecular structures which are the main focus of this paper form complexes with proteins in a way which is a new type of interaction. Despite preserving the ribbon-like structure, it may also interact with proteins as a mixed system. In this way, it may be used as a carrier of drugs. In addition, hybrid systems created by a combination of ribbon-like supramolecular structures with carbon nanotubes were presented together with data from studies of these structures as drug-carrying systems. This paper presents an outline of the experimentally confirmed possible use of ribbon-like supramolecular systems.