Cyclodextrin-Mediated Hierarchical Self-Assembly and Its Potential in Drug Delivery Applications

Hierarchical self-assembly exploits various non-covalent interactions to manufacture sophisticated organized systems at multiple length scales with interesting properties for pharmaceutical industry such as possibility of spatially controlled drug loading and multiresponsiveness to external stimuli. Cyclodextrin (CD)-mediated host-guest interactions proved to be an efficient tool to construct hierarchical architectures primarily due to the high specificity and reversibility of the inclusion complexation of CDs with a number of hydrophobic guest molecules, their excellent bioavailability, and easiness of chemical modification. In this review, we will outline the recent progress in the development of CD-based hierarchical architectures such as nanoscale drug and gene delivery carriers and physically cross-linked supramolecular hydrogels designed for a sustained release of actives.