Recent advances on construction and biomedical application of polymer-protein assemblies

In biological systems, proteins or enzymes frequently operate sophisticated hierarchical assembly to execute complex physiological functions. Encouraged by nature, the construction of artificial supramolecular protein assemblies is emerging as an important strategy in various fields which have been prepared through either self-assembly of proteins or the mediation of ligand molecules. Among them, polymer-protein conjugates integrate the favorable properties of polymers with the bioactivity of proteins, yielding nano- to micrometer scale assemblies with diverse morphologies, and exhibiting stimuli-responsiveness and enhanced structural stability. This review summarizes recent progress on the synthesis and applications of polymer-protein assemblies, including the discussion on the assembly strategies of electrostatic, hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, π-π stacking as well as host-guest interactions, and the demonstration on their advantages in drug delivery, biosensing, bioimaging, and catalysis. • Integrated review on the advances of polymer-protein assemblies. • Various non-covalent interactions driving assembly of polymer and protein to form nano- and micro- superstructures. • Abundant application prospects shown on polymer-protein assemblies in biomedical and related fields. • Future development may involve comprehensive methodologies including chemistry, biology and even AI technique.