Topography design in model membranes: Where biology meets physics

Abstract

Phospholipid membranes are necessary for the compartmentalization of chemistries within biological cells and for initiation and propagation of cell signaling. The morphological and chemical complexities of cellular membranes represent a challenge for dissecting the biochemical processes occurring at these interfaces. Therefore, investigations of the biological events occurring at the membrane require suitable models to reproduce the intricacy of this surface. Solid-supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) are simplified physical replicas of biological membranes that allow for bottom-up reconstruction of the molecular mechanisms occurring at cellular interfaces. In this brief review, we introduce how the properties of SLBs can be tuned to mimic biological membranes, highlighting the engineering approaches for creating spatially resolved patterns of lipid bilayers and supported membranes with curved geometries. Additionally, we present how SLBs have been employed to reconstitute molecular mechanisms involved in intercellular signaling and more recently, membrane trafficking.

Impact statement

Artificial membranes with complex topography aid the understanding of biological processes where membrane geometry plays a key regulatory role. In this review, we highlight how emerging material and engineering technologies have been employed to create minimal models of cell signaling pathways, in vitro. These artificial systems allow life scientists to answer ever more challenging questions with regards to mechanisms in cellular biology. In vitro reconstitution of biology is an area that draws on the expertise and collaboration between biophysicists, material scientists and biologists and has recently generated a number of high impact results, some of which are also discussed in this review.