Development and Evolution of Cell Membrane Chromatography-Based Analytical Instruments

Cell membrane chromatography (CMC) is a unique biomimetic technique that overcomes the limitations of conventional physical property-based separation methods by enabling direct, activity-based identification of target components through interactions between ligands and receptors. It greatly simplifies analytical workflows while improving the specificity and efficiency of the screening of active components, thereby providing more efficient and precise analytical solutions for drug discovery, modernization of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), food and environmental testing. CMC drives analytical technologies toward a “directly targeted, activity-oriented” paradigm. The CMC-dependent development of analytical instruments represents a characteristic innovation at the intersection of medical and engineering disciplines. By deeply integrating chromatographic engineering, cell biology, and pharmaceutical analysis, CMC translates in vivo ligand–receptor mechanisms into standardized in vitro analytical devices. This approach supports the development of medicine using precise, activity-oriented analytical tools, and also steers engineering technologies toward biomedical needs characterized by biomimetic simulation and target-specific adaptation. Overall, CMC helps overcome key challenges in screening active components from complex systems and evaluating drug bioactivity. It also serves as a bridge between basic medical research and engineering translation and provides a model for medical–engineering integration, thereby facilitating the development of the biopharmaceutical industry. In this paper, we systematically review the development of CMC technology and CMC-based instruments. Furthermore, we analyze the instrument configuration and typical applications in screening of active components from complex systems. • Summarizes the proposal, development and application of the CMC technology. • Outlines the prototype development, configuration and coupling strategies of the CMC analytical instruments. • Traces the evolution of major instrument components, including recognition, valve control, and intelligent analytical systems. • Details the typical application scenarios and fields of CMC analytical instruments.