Dic: inform (in a formal sense)

─ If a situation or activity is informed by an idea or a quality, that idea or quality is very noticeable in it. (FORMAL)

• All great songs are informed by a certain sadness and tension...
• The concept of the Rose continued to inform the poet's work.

─ 4) to give form to.
   5) to impart some essential or formative characteristic to
   6) (tr) to animate or inspire

─ [formal] to influence someone's attitude or opinion.

• Her experience as a refugee informs the content of her latest novel.

─ give character or essence to.

• The principles that inform modern teaching

─ 3) To give form or character to; imbue with a quality or an essence:

• “A society's strength is measured by . . . its ability to inform a future generation with its moral standards”(Vanity Fair)

   4) To be a pervasive presence in; animate:

• “It is this brash, backroom sensibility that informs his work as a novelist”(Jeff Shear)

─ inform something. (formal) to have an influence on something

• Religion informs every aspect of their lives.
• These guidelines will be used to inform any future decisions.

... COBUILD, COLLINS, LDOCE, WORDNET, The American Heritage, OALD

─ Give an essential or formative principle or quality to.

• As such, these works serve as a convincing proof of principle and have informed our own approach to the problem of dominance evolution.

... Oxford Dictionaries