Polysaccharide–Peptide Conjugates: A Versatile Material Platform for Biomedical Applications

Natural polymers, such as polysaccharides and proteins, have been widely studied for numerous biomedical applications because of their bioactivity, natural origin, and biodegradability. To address the different needs of a broad spectrum of biomedical applications, natural polymers are modified with or conjugated to small molecular compounds, synthetic and natural polymers, and inorganic nanomaterials and surfaces. Among these hybrid materials, polysaccharide–peptide conjugates have drawn much attention due to their design flexibility, biocompatibility, tunable degradability, and structure similarity to naturally occurring glycoproteins. In the past 20 years, polysaccharide–peptide conjugates have demonstrated the promising potential to address many long‐standing medical challenges. Thus, the design, conjugation chemistry and method, and biomedical applications of polysaccharide–peptide conjugates are summarized and discussed in this review. The conjugation techniques are reviewed from the view of the chemical reactions. Meanwhile, some inspiring examples of polysaccharide–peptide conjugates in biomedical applications, including drug delivery systems, nucleic acid delivery carriers, tissue engineering, and antimicrobial applications, are highlighted. Moreover, the outlook on the challenges and demands of polysaccharide–peptide conjugates is also elaborated.