Quo vadis reconstituted cell surfaces? Purpose and future perspectives for minimal systems of the cell plasma membrane

The cell plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells is a fantastically complex and important system ensuring the transport of information from the environment towards individual cells and vice versa. It provides a mechanical and chemical delimitation of the cell, enabling cell migration, the formation of tissues, as well as the transport of electrical signals. The watchmaker's approach of understanding this complex system by rebuilding aspects of it in minimal systems using purified and reconstituted proteins has proven to be very powerful and has delivered crucial insights into key mechanisms governing cell membrane activities and organisation. However, recent advances have been limited, and it remains to be seen whether functional mimics of the cell surface can be engineered and what advantage those would deliver compared to more traditional methods of synthetic biology. This piece summarises some of the recent advances and gives a perspective on where the field could go.