Photocontrol of Protein Conformation in a Langmuir Monolayer

We report a method to control the conformation of a weak polyampholyte (the protein β-casein) in Langmuir monolayers by light, even though the protein is not photosensitive. Our approach is to couple the monolayer state to a photochemical reaction excited in the liquid subphase. The conformational transition of the protein molecule is triggered through its sensitivity to a subphase bulk field (pH in this study), changing in the course of the photochemical process. Thus, reaction of photoaquation of the ferrocyanide ion, which increases the subphase pH from 7.0 to about 8.3, produces a change in the surface monolayer pressure, ∆Π, between -0.5 and +1.5 mN/m (depending on the surface concentration), signalling a conformational switch. The approach proposed here can be used to selectively target and influence different interfacial properties by light, without embedding photosensitisers in the matrix.