Abstract
Natural small molecules self‐assembled to carrier‐free hydrogels have attracted widespread attention due to their simple preparation process, high drug loading capacity, good biodegradability, and biocompatibility. A group of structurally similar chiral phytochemical baicalin (BA), scutellarin (SCU), and achiral isoquinoline alkaloids chelerythrine (CHE) can self‐assemble to form binary hydrogels with helical nanofibers or twisted nanofibers. Interestingly, there is only one OH difference between SCU and BA, but the hydrogel formed by self‐assembly with CHE has huge differences in material properties, which is related to the chiral helicity of the formed supramolecules. Compared with BA‐CHE, the binary hydrogel formed by SCU‐CHE shows chiral amplification with greater helicity, is more stable, and exhibits excellent material properties, which is due to the magical noncovalent bond balance controlled by OH. This self‐assembled chiral hydrogel based on the inherent anti‐inflammatory and antibacterial activities of phytochemicals (BA, SCU, and CHE) can promote wound healing in bacterial infections by inhibiting the complement system. The phenomenon of supramolecular chirality amplification caused by tiny structural changes discovered in this study provides a horizon for the self‐assembly of natural small molecule drugs to form two‐component chiral supramolecular hydrogels and expands its application in the field of biomaterials.
Published Version
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