Life systems are complex systems, and the self-assembly behaviour represents the transition from disorder to order and serves as a concrete indicator and starting point for understanding complex systems. Super-self-assembly behaviour was observed in the decoctions of various natural herbs, and this behaviour was characterized by multistep and multilevel assembly processes. The super-self-assemblies were multilevel particles resulting from inorganic‒organic assembly, specifically observed as composite spheres, cubes and tetragonal bipyramids. The preparation process was environmentally friendly and safe, and the resulting super-self-assemblies were regular in shape and rich in variety; this process has numerous possibilities for development and application in medicine and materials research.

Nature inspired deformable heterogeneous smart hydrogels have attracted much attention in many fields such as biomedicine devices and soft actuators. However, normal spatial heterogeneous hydrogel structures can only respond to single factor and take one action as set in fabrication. Herein, we report a pre-stretched metal-liganded shape memory hydrogel with fiber reinforced, P(AAc-co-AAm)/CCNFs-Fe³⁺ (CCNFs: carboxylated cellulose nanofibers, AAc: acrylic acid, AAm: acrylamide), which can conduct shape deformation by solvent induction and ultraviolet (UV) light. The deformation pattern could be programmed by the deposing of ferroin ions. Also, the pre-stretched shape memory hydrogels could effectively produce cyclic actuation or complex shape actuation by UV light. More importantly, combining the solvent response with the light response enabled complex reversible actuations, such as simulating the bending and unfolding of fingers. The addition of CCNFs significantly enhanced the mechanical properties of the hydrogels. The hydrogels with 3 wt.% CCNFs showed an elongation at break of about 500% and a significant increase in tensile strength of 8.7-fold to 1.55 MPa after coordination with metal ions, which was able to meet the mechanical requirements of the bionic actuated hydrogels. This work demonstrated that combining light-programmed and light-responsive shape-memory hydrogels, complemented by another independent response property, could achieve complex and reversible programmed actuations.

The interstitial space, a widespread fluid-filled compartment throughout the body, is related to many pathophysiological alterations and diseases, attracting increasing attention. The vital role of interstitial space in malaria infection and treatment has been neglected current research efforts. We confirmed the reinfection capacity of parasites sequestrated in interstitial space, which replenish the mechanism of recurrence. Malaria parasite-infected mice were treated with artemisinin-loaded liposomes through the interstitial space and exhibited a better therapeutic response. Notably, compared with oral administration, interstitial administration showed an unexpectedly high activation and recruitment of immune cells, and resulted in better clearance of sequestered parasites from organs, and enhanced pathological recovery. The interstitial route of administration prolongs the blood circulation time of artemisinin and increases its plasma concentration, and may compensate for the inefficiency of oral administration and the nanotoxicity of intravenous administration, providing a potential strategy for infectious disease therapy.