DNA Framework‐Based Topological Cell Sorters

Abstract Molecular recognition in cell biological process is characterized with specific locks‐and‐keys interactions between ligands and receptors, which are ubiquitously distributed on cell membrane with topological clustering. Few topologically‐engineered ligand systems enable the exploration of the binding strength between ligand‐receptor topological organization. Herein, we generate topologically controlled ligands by developing a family of tetrahedral DNA frameworks (TDFs), so the multiple ligands are stoichiometrically and topologically arranged. This topological control of multiple ligands changes the nature of the molecular recognition by inducing the receptor clustering, so the binding strength is significantly improved (ca. 10‐fold). The precise engineering of topological complexes formed by the TDFs are readily translated into effective binding control for cell patterning and binding strength control of cells for cell sorting. This work paves the way for the development of versatile design of topological ligands.