| Cyrano |
11-02-2011 01:38 AM |
Science proves it...
FRAPs or you got nothing.
"Lateral diffusion refers to the lateral movement of lipids and proteins found in the membrane. Membrane lipids and proteins are generally free to move laterally if they are not restricted by certain interactions. Lateral diffusion is a fairly quick and spontaneous process.
Lateral diffusion can be tracked by a process called fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). This process is available because the use of fluorescence labeling allows the tracking of the molecules. The cell surface will be labeled first with a chromophore, then analyzed under a fluorescence microscope on one section (illuminated area). On this specific site, the fluoresced molecules are destroyed by bleaching them (use of laser) and watching if they leave or enter the illuminated area. If the molecules are mobile, it has two different states, bleached or unbleached. If the molecule is leaving the illuminated area, this means that the molecule is bleached. If the molecule is entering the illuminated area, this means that the molecules is unbleached. The unbleached molecules help to increase the fluorescence intensity."
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