Two-Dimensional Polycyclodextrins for Strong Multivalent Host-Guest Interactions at Biointerfaces

Abstract

While 2D polymers with aromatic backbones have been increasingly receiving interest from various scientific disciplines, their nonaromatic counterparts are less investigated. In this work, 2D poly(β-cyclodextrin)s (2D-CDs) with few hundred nanometers to millimeters lateral sizes and 0.7 nm thickness are synthesized using graphene and boron nitride as colloidal templates and used for multivalent host-guest interactions with biological systems. Deposition of cyclodextrins on graphene and boron nitride templates followed by lateral crosslinking and template detachment resulted in 2D-CDs with different physicochemical properties. The size of the 2D-CDs is dominated by noncovalent interactions between cyclodextrins and templates. While an interaction energy of −224.3 kJ mol⁻¹ at the interface between graphene and cyclodextrin led to few hundred nanometer 2D-CDs, boron nitride with weaker interactions (−179.4 kJ mol⁻¹) resulted in polymers with millimeters lateral sizes. The secondary hydroxyl groups of 2D-CDs are changed to sodium sulfate, and 2D polymers with the ability of simultaneous host-guest and electrostatic interactions with biosystems including vessel plaques and herpes simplex virus (HSV) are obtained. The sulfated 2D-CDs (2D-CDSs) show a high ability for virus binding (IC50 = 6 µg mL⁻¹). Owing to their carbohydrate backbone, 2D-CDs are novel heparin mimetics that can be formulated for efficient inhibition of viral infections.