Peptide-harnessed supramolecular and hybrid nanomaterials for stimuli-responsive theranostics

Theranostics has emerged as a promising approach to integrate therapy and diagnosis. However, existing systems have limitations such as low tumor specificity and potential toxicity. Recent efforts have focused on harnessing smart, stimuli-responsive materials to tackle these shortcomings. Among them, peptide-based supramolecular and hybrid nanomaterials offer remarkable potential: their ability to form diverse secondary structures (e.g., α-helices, β-sheets) enables precise control over drug release, imaging, and other functions in response to single or dual stimuli such as pH, enzymes, redox, or light. These materials have shown increased tumor selectivity, controlled drug release, and improved imaging accuracy through their secondary structures, supramolecular assemblies, and hybrid structures. Furthermore, they have shown promise in overcoming the limitations of existing theranostics in various fields including drug delivery, tissue engineering, phototherapy, wound healing, bioimaging, and clinical trials. In this review, we highlight the importance of stimuli-responsive mechanisms and peptide-based nanomaterial design and suggest directions for developing precise and efficient next-generation theranostics. Peptide-based supramolecular and hybrid nanomaterials, which leverage stimuli-responsive structural and bioactivity modulations, enhance the therapeutic and diagnostic potential of nanomedicine for treating critical diseases. • Theranostics integrates treatment and diagnostics, focusing on precise control and targeting. • Peptide-based nanomaterials form secondary structures, enabling transformations into nanoparticles, sheets, fibers, and hydrogels. • Stimuli such as pH, redox, enzymes, and light enhance tumor selectivity and imaging precision. • Responsive nanomaterials show potential in cancer therapy, bioimaging, tissue engineering, drug delivery, wound healing, and phototherapy. • This review covers recent advances in peptide-based stimuli-responsive nanomaterials and future perspectives in theranostics.