In recent years, research on cylindrical polymer brushes (or molecular bottle-brushes) has received significant attention. In this article, we discuss various strategies for their synthesis and the unique properties arising from their regular multibranched structure. Some recent advances in the application of cylindrical polymer brushes are highlighted. Amphiphilic core-shell cylindrical polymer brushes, for example, have been successfully used as single molecular templates for inorganic nanoparticle formation. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.