A relativistic nuclear energy density functional is developed, guided by two important features that establish connections with chiral dynamics and the symmetry breaking pattern of low-energy QCD: (i) strong scalar and vector fields related to in-medium changes of QCD vacuum condensates; (ii) the long- and intermediate-range interactions generated by one- and two-pion exchange, derived from in-medium chiral perturbation theory, with explicit inclusion of \Delta(1232) excitations. Applications are presented for the description of ground-state properties.

PACS numbers: 21.10.Dr, 21.60.Jz