Red-light-catalyzed photolipid switching enables leaflet-selective control of membrane mechanics

Red-light excitation of NB-lipid catalyzes rapid cis-to-trans photoisomerization of co-localized azobenzene photolipids in planar bilayers without covalent conjugation, enabling leaflet-specific mechanical control.

• Why it matters: Long-wavelength actuation and leaflet-selective perturbations are hard to achieve, limiting how precisely membrane mechanics and protein function can be probed.
• What they did: Planar bilayers containing azobenzene photolipids plus a lipidated Nile Blue derivative were illuminated with red light, and leaflet selectivity was tested by placing the membrane-targeted chromophore in only one leaflet.
• The result: Photocatalysis is predominantly intraleaflet, allowing on-demand, rapid writing of transbilayer mechanical asymmetry tracked by lock-in capacitance, and blue versus red light evoked symmetric versus asymmetric leaflet perturbations.

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