A the wind of time blows into the sails of space, the unfolding of the universe nurtures the evolution of matter under the pressure of information. From divided to condensed and on to organized, living, and thinking matter, the path is toward an increase in complexity through self-organization. Thus emerges the prime question set to science, in particular to chemistry, the science of the struct...

Supramolecular interactions are usually short-range (near contact) forces between the molecules, too weak to cause the intermolecular changes or bond formation between the particles. At the same time, their strength and range are sufficient to cause self-assembly of the molecular units or certain elastic deformations of these building blocks. Because of the weakness of supramolecular interactio...

Physical hydrogels are extensively used in a wide range of biomedical applications. However, different applications require hydrogels with different mechanical and structural properties. Tailoring these properties demands exquisite control over the supramolecular interactions involved. Here we show that it is possible to control the mechanical properties of hydrogels using de novo designed coil...

A variety of cyclodextrin-based molecular structures, with substitutions of either primary or secondary faces of the natural oligosaccharide macrocycles of α-, β-, or γ-cyclodextrins, have been designed towards innovative applications of self-assembled cyclodextrin nanomaterials. Amphiphilic cyclodextrins have been obtained by chemical or enzymatic modifications of their macrocycles using phosp...

Hybrid polymer-network gels built by both physical and covalent polymer crosslinking combine the advantages of both these crosslinking types: they exhibit high mechanical strength along with excellent fracture toughness and extensibility. If these materials are extensively deformed, their physical crosslinks can break such that strain energy is dissipated and irreversible fracturing is restrict...

Control over the assembly and disassembly of nanoparticles is pivotal for their use as drug delivery vehicles. Here, we aim to form supramolecular nanoparticles (SNPs) by combining advantages of the reversible assembly properties of SNPs using host-guest interactions and of a stimulus-responsive moiety. The SNPs are composed of a core of positively charged poly(ethylene imine) grafted with β-cy...

A new type of supramolecular chemosensor based on the polyoxometalate (POM) Na9DyW10O36 (DyW10) and the block copolymer poly(ethylene oxide-b-N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PEO114-b-PDMAEMA16) is reported. By taking advantage of the CO2 sensitivity of PDMAEMA blocks to protonate the neutral tertiary amino groups, CO2 can induce the electrostatic coassembly of anionic DyW10 with protonate...

DEDICATION To my husband Jeffrey, my parents, and my son v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I need to thank of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Chemistry Department for giving me such an invaluable chance to study here. Thank you to my advisor and mentor, Professor Sankaran Thayumanavan, for the chance to do research in such a wonderful research group. Thank you for all of the direction, s...

Plasma Membrane is the primary structure for adjusting to ever changing conditions. PM sub-compartmentalization in domains is thought to orchestrate signaling. Yet, mechanisms governing membrane organization are mostly uncharacterized. The plant-specific REMORINs are proteins regulating hormonal crosstalk and host invasion. REMs are the best-characterized nanodomain markers via an uncharacteriz...

Numerous supramolecular protein assemblies had been demonstrated to have either physiological or pathological activities. The most significant case of diseaseassociated self-organized structures is that of amyloid fibrils. The formation of these fibrils is the hallmark of major human disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and type II diabetes. In this review we illustrate the molecular proper...