At the Molecular Bionics Group, Supramolecular Drug Design focuses on engineering multifunctional therapeutic systems that seamlessly mimic and integrate biological processes to provide precise and innovative therapeutic solutions. Our approach combines principles of soft matter physics and supramolecular chemistry to create advanced drug structures with enhanced selectivity, multivalency, and functionality.
We synthesise block copolymers comprising hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments, enabling precise control over their self-assembly into various nanoscale architectures, including spherical and cylindrical micelles and vesicles (polymersomes). These nanostructures are meticulously designed to meet the stringent requirements of phenotypic targeting, such as preventing protein corona formation and ensuring high precision in functionalisation with specific ligands for selective receptor engagement.
The polymers we employ are carefully selected to be biocompatible, biodegradable, or safe for human use. These include well-established materials like polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), which are either hydrolysable or chemically stable under physiological conditions. This ensures that our supramolecular systems are suitable for medical applications, particularly in the context of phenotypic targeting for diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and immune disorders.
Through this approach, we develop supramolecular drugs that not only deliver therapeutic agents with high precision but also regulate biological processes such as receptor clustering, endocytic internalisation, and pro-drug activation via enzymatic pathways, paving the way for safer, more effective treatments. 

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Relevant works 

A.Blanazs, M. Massignani, G. Battaglia, S. P. Armes and A. J. Ryan  Tailoring macromolecular expression at block copolymer vesicle surface Adv. Funct. Mater., 2009, 19 (18), 2906 – 2914

C. Fernyhough, A. J. Ryan, and G. Battaglia pH controlled assembly of a polybutadiene– poly(methacrylic acid) copolymer in water: packing considerations and kinetic limitations. Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 1674 – 1682

A. Blanazs, J. Madsen, G. Battaglia, A. J. Ryan and S. P. Armes  Mechanistic Insights For Block Copolymers Morphologies: How Do Worms Form Vesicles? J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011 133 (41), 16581–16587

P. Viswanathan, S. Chirasatitsin, K. Ngamkham, A. Engler, and G. Battaglia, Cell instructive microporous scaffolds through interface engineering J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134 (49), 20103–20109

J. Gaitzsch, D. Appelhans, L. Wang, G. Battaglia*, and B. Voit* Synthetic bionanoreactor: Me- chanical and chemical control of polymersome membrane permeability Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 4448–4451J. Gaitzsch, D. Appelhans, L. Wang, G. Battaglia*, and B. Voit* Synthetic bionanoreactor: Mechanical and chemical control of polymersome membrane permeability Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 4448–4451

P. Chambon, A. Blanazs, G. Battaglia and S. Armes Facile Synthesis of Methacrylic ABC Tri- block Copolymer Vesicles by RAFT Aqueous Dispersion Polymerization Macromolecules 2012, 45, 5081–5090

J. Rosselgong, A. Blanazs, P. Chambon, M. Williams, M. Semsarilar, J. Madsen, G. Battaglia and S. P. Armes* Thiol-Functionalized Block Copolymer Vesicles ACS Macro Lett. 2012, 1, 1041–1045

R. Pearson, N. Warren, A. Lewis, S. P. Armes and G. Battaglia*, pH and temperature effect on PMPC - PDPA copolymer self-assembly Macromolecules, 2013, 46, 1400–1407

E. Themistou, G. Battaglia, S.P. Armes  Facile Synthesis of Thiol-Functionalized Amphiphilic Polylactide-Methacrylic Diblock Copolymers Polymer Chem. 2014,5, 1405-1417

P. Viswanathan, D. Johnson, C. Hurley, N. Cameron and G. Battaglia* 3D Surface Functional- ization of Emulsion-templated Polymeric Foams Macromolecules 2014, 47, 7091–7098

P. Viswanathan, E. Themistou, K. Ngamkham, G. Reilly, S. Armes, G. Battaglia Controlling Surface Topology and Functionality of Electrospun Fibers using Amphiphilic Block Copolymers to Direct Mesenchymal Progenitor Cell Adhesion Biomacromolecules 2015, 16(1):66-75

G. Yilmaz, L. Messager, A. S. Gleinich, D. Mitchell, G. Battaglia, R. Becer Glyconanoparticles with Controlled Morphologies and Their Interactions with a Dendritic Cell Lectin Polym. Chem., 2016, 7, 6293-6296C.

C. Fetsch, J. Gaitzsch, L. Messager, G. Battaglia, and R. Luxenhofer “Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Block Copolypeptoids for Drug Delivery Carriers - Micelles, Worms and Polymersomes” Sci. Rep., 2016, 6, 33491

J. Gaitzsch, M. Delahaye, A. Poma, F. Du Prez and G. Battaglia Comparison of metal free polymer-dye conjugation strategies in protic solvents Polymer Chem. 2016 , 7, 3046 - 3055

J. Gaitzsch, V. Chudasama, E. Morecroft, L. Messager, G. Battaglia Synthesis of an Amphiphilic Miktoarm Star Terpolymer for Self-Assembly into Patchy Polymersomes ACS Macro Lett. 2016, 5, 351–354

J. Gaitzsch, K. Keru, G. Battaglia Peptoidosomes as nanoparticles from amphiphilic block alpha-peptoids using solid-phase-synthesis Eur. Poly J., 2015, 73, 447–454.

E. Ellis, K. Zhang, Q. Lin, E. Ye, A. Poma, G. Battaglia, X .J. Loh and T.C. Lee Biocompatible pH-responsive nanoparticles with a core-anchored multilayer shell of triblock copolymers for enhanced cancer therapy J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, 5, 4421-4425

Y Zhu, A. Poma, L. Rizzello, V. Gouevei, L. Ruiz-Perez, G. Battaglia, and C.K.Williams Metabolic active fully hydrolysable polymersomes Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 8, 4581 –4586

A. Duro-Castano , L. Rodriguez-Arco, L. Ruiz-Perez, C. De Pace, G. Marchello,  C.NobleJesus, G. Battaglia* One-pot synthesis of oxidation-sensitive supramolecular gels and vesicles Biomacromolecules 2021, 22, 12, 5052–5064

C. Noble Jesus, R. Evans, J. Forth, C. Estarellas, F. L. Gervasio, G. Battaglia Amphiphilic Histidine-Based Oligopeptides Exhibit pH-Reversible Fibril Formation ACS Macro Letters, 2021, 10, 984-989​

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