Self-assembly is a powerful tool to create functional materials. A specific application for which self-assembled materials are ideally suited is in creating injectable biomaterials. Contrasting with traditional biomaterials that are implanted through surgical means, injecting biomaterials through the skin offers numerous advantages, expanding the scope and impact for biomaterials in medicine. In particular, self-assembled biomaterials prepared from molecular or colloidal interactions have been frequently explored. The strategies to create these materials are varied, taking advantage of engineered oligopeptides, proteins, and nanoparticles as well as affinity-mediated crosslinking of synthetic precursors. Self-assembled materials typically facilitate injectability through two different mechanisms: i) in situ self-assembly, whereby materials would be administered in a monomeric or oligomeric form and self-assemble in response to some physiologic stimulus, or ii) self-assembled materials that, by virtue of their dynamic, non-covalent interactions, shear-thin to facilitate flow within a syringe and subsequently self-heal into its reassembled material form at the injection site. Indeed, many classes of materials are capable of being injected using a combination of these two mechanisms. Particular utility has been noted for self-assembled biomaterials in the context of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and immunoengineering. Given the controlled and multifunctional nature of many self-assembled materials demonstrated to date, we project a future where injectable self-assembled biomaterials afford improved practice in advancing healthcare.

自组装是创建功能材料的强大工具。自组装材料最适合的特定应用是创建可注射的生物材料。与通过外科手术方式植入的传统生物材料相比，通过皮肤注射生物材料具有许多优势，扩大了生物材料在医学中的范围和影响。特别地，已经经常探索由分子或胶体相互作用制备的自组装生物材料。利用工程化的寡肽，蛋白质和纳米颗粒以及亲和性介导的合成前体的交联，制造这些材料的策略各不相同。自组装材料通常通过两种不同的机制促进注射性：i）原位自组装，由此，材料将在单体或低聚的形式和给药响应于某些刺激生理自组装，或二）自组装材料，由于其动态的非共价相互作用，使剪切稀薄以促进注射器内的流动，并随后在注射部位自愈成其重新组装的材料形式。实际上，可以使用这两种机制的组合来注入许多类型的材料。在组织工程，再生医学，药物递送和免疫工程的背景下，已经注意到自组装生物材料的特殊用途。鉴于迄今为止已证明的许多自组装材料的控制性和多功能性，我们预测了可注射自组装生物材料在改善医疗保健方面的改进实践的未来。