Artificial cells have led to many potential applications in synthetic biology and served as useful platforms to study biological phenomena. With increasing development of DNA nanotechnology, DNA-based nanostructures with various morphologies have been constructed for protein mimicking. These biomimicking elements can be assembled on cell membrane involved in various cellular activities, as well as be constructed as signaling networks inside cells. DNA nanotechnology provides an efficient approach to accomplish multiple functions, including signal recognition, transduction, and output. Here, we review a myriad of predominant studies on the construction of artificial cells based on DNA nanotechnology, including the morphological and functional mimic of membrane proteins, biosensors for monitoring the cellular microenvironment, and construction of DNA-based signal feedback networks. We also provide a comprehensive insight into DNA-based artificial cells, on the basis of current challenges and scientific requirements, which will prompt their reasonable designs in the future.
Keywords: DNA nanostructures; DNA nanotechnology; artificial cells; bionic elements; cellular microenvironment.