Optical Modulation of Azobenzene-Modified Peptide for Gold Surface Binding

Abstract

The ability to precisely and remotely modulate reversible binding interactions between biomolecules and abiotic surfaces is appealing for many applications. To achieve this level of control, an azobenzene-based optical switch is added to nanoparticle-binding peptides in order to switch peptide conformation and attenuate binding affinity to gold surfaces via binding and dissociation of peptides.