“…Additionally, the natural proteoglycans extractives from Coriolus versicolor , which exhibited satisfactory cancer therapeutic targeting and efficacy, are made from polysaccharides covalently bonded to polypeptides through O - or N -glycosidic linkages . Much bioinspired effort has been focused on the design and synthesis of polysaccharide–polypeptide conjugates, aiming to not only mimic the nanoscale assembly of natural polysaccharides and proteins, , but more importantly, achieve enhanced properties toward biomedical applications. − Generally, polysaccharide–polypeptide conjugates can be prepared by the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of N -carboxyanhydride (NCA) monomers in organic solvents (e.g., DMF and DMAc) using modified polysaccharides as the initiators. , In this method, tedious protection and deprotection of hydroxyl groups of chitosan are required to improve their solubility in organic solvent. While the polysaccharide–polypeptide conjugates have also been prepared by side-chain or end-group modification of polysaccharides with the functionalized polypeptides, ,, the conjugation reaction is time-consuming and may involve efficiency/purification issues.…”