# Programmable interactions with biomimetic DNA linkers at fluid membranes and interfaces

## TL;DR

This paper reviews recent experimental and theoretical advances in biomimetic systems where DNA-based linkers mediate multivalent interactions at fluid, deformable membranes, revealing complex behaviors and potential biological applications.

## Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of how programmable DNA linkers influence multivalent interactions on fluid membranes, combining experimental findings and theoretical models.

## Key findings

- DNA nanostructures enable programmable interaction properties
- Multivalent interactions lead to exotic phase behaviors
- Fluidity and deformability induce stimuli-responsive self-assembly

## Abstract

At the heart of the structured architecture and complex dynamics of biological systems are specific and timely interactions operated by biomolecules. In many instances, biomolecular agents are spatially confined to flexible lipid membranes where, among other functions, they control cell adhesion, motility and tissue formation. Besides being central to several biological processes, \emph{multivalent interactions} mediated by reactive linkers confined to deformable substrates underpin the design of synthetic-biological platforms and advanced biomimetic materials. Here we review recent advances on the experimental study and theoretical modelling of a heterogeneous class of biomimetic systems in which synthetic linkers mediate multivalent interactions between fluid and deformable colloidal units, including lipid vesicles and emulsion droplets. Linkers are often prepared from synthetic DNA nanostructures, enabling full programmability of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of their mutual interactions. The coupling of the statistical effects of multivalent interactions with substrate fluidity and deformability gives rise to a rich emerging phenomenology that, in the context of self-assembled soft materials, has been shown to produce exotic phase behaviour, stimuli-responsiveness, and kinetic programmability of the self-assembly process. Applications to (synthetic) biology will also be reviewed.