REVIEW

Physical principles at bio-nano interfaces with active matter

State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

^* Corresponding author (email: ltyan@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn)

Received: 30 November 2023
Revised: 14 January 2024
Accepted: 23 January 2024

Abstract

Active matter is characterized by out-of-equilibrium behaviors, offering an attractive, alternative route for revolutionizing disease diagnostics and therapy. A better understanding of how active matter interacts with cell membranes is critical to elucidating the underlying physical mechanisms and broadening the potential biomedical applications. This review provides a conceptual framework on the physiochemical mechanisms underlying active matter-biomembrane interactions. We briefly introduce the physical models of active matter and lipid membranes, and summarize the typical phenomena emerging from various active matter, including artificial active particles, cellular cytoskeletons, bacteria, and membrane proteins. Moreover, the remaining challenges and future perspectives of such non-equilibrium systems in living organisms are discussed. The findings and fundamental principles discussed in this review shed light on the rational design of activity-mediated cellular interaction, and could trigger better strategies to design and develop novel functional systems and materials toward advantageous biomedical applications.