Genetic Engineering of Surface Attachment Sites Yields Oriented Protein Monolayers

There has been considerable interest in the use of self-assembly and Langmuir-Blodgett techniques to generate ordered macromolecular monolayers. We describe a general method of using genetic engineering to produce a unique chemical group on the surface of a protein at a predefined site which can be used to orient the macromolecule in a self-assembled film. Using the heme protein cytochrome b₅, produced from a totally synthetic gene, allows direct determination of orientation through measurement of absorbance linear dichroism.