Lipid-DNA conjugates for cell membrane modification, analysis, and regulation

ABSTRACT

Lipids and DNAs are two major building blocks of life. Interestingly, by chemically linking these two natural compounds together, synthetic lipid-DNA conjugates exhibit several attractive features for cell membrane studies. These lipid-DNA conjugates are amphiphilic macromolecules combining the cell membrane insertion capability of lipids with the properties of DNAs in precise hybridization and programmability. These supramolecular conjugates have demonstrated exciting applications from generating cell membrane nanopores to transmembrane cargo deliveries, and from analyzing cell membrane events to tissue engineering. In this review, we will discuss the design, structures, and biological applications of lipid-DNA conjugates, with an emphasis on their functions on live cell membranes. We expect, in the near future, significant advancement in our ability to understand, control, and apply these cell membrane-modified lipid-DNA conjugates.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• DNA
• lipid
• amphiphilic conjugate
• cell membrane modification
• membrane biology

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the start-up grant from UMass Amherst and an IALS M2M seed grant. The authors also thank other members in the You Lab for useful discussion and valuable comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the start-up grant from UMass Amherst and an IALS M2M seed grant.