A novel method for the determination of proteins by using tetracarboxy manganese(II) phthalocyanine (MnC4Pc) as a resonance light scattering (RLS) probe has been developed. At pH 3.0 Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution, the RLS intensity of MnC4Pc at 385 nm is greatly enhanced in the presence of proteins. The effects of pH, reaction time, concentration of MnC4Pc and interfering substances on the enhanced RLS intensity are investigated, respectively. Under optimal conditions, the linear ranges of the calibration curves are 0-2.00 microg mL(-1) for bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA), 0.0-1.75 microg mL(-1) for human-IgG and ovalbumin, with a detection limit of 16.37 ng mL(-1) BSA, 17.62 ng mL(-1) HSA, 19.41 ng mL(-1) human-IgG and 20.72 ng mL(-1) ovalbumin. The method has been applied to the determination of total proteins in human serum samples collected from a hospital and the results are in good agreement with those reported by the hospital.