Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching technique

Determination of translational diffusion rates of proteins requires measurements at longer timescales, one-tenth of a second to several minutes. Eosin derivatives are also commonly used to measure translational diffusion coefficients using the Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching technique [138-141],... 

The FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) technique uses photobleaching to measure molecular diffusion and can be used if the material in question is confined to a specific plane (e.g., a membrane or cytoskeletal filaments adsorbed on a surface). The fluorophores... 

One of the most popular applications of molecular rotors is the quantitative determination of solvent viscosity (for some examples, see references [18, 23-27] and Sect. 5). Viscosity refers to a bulk property, but molecular rotors change their behavior under the influence of the solvent on the molecular scale. Most commonly, the diffusivity of a fluorophore is related to bulk viscosity through the Debye-Stokes-Einstein relationship where the diffusion constant D is inversely proportional to bulk viscosity rj. Established techniques such as fluorescent recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and fluorescence anisotropy build on the diffusivity of a fluorophore. However, the relationship between diffusivity on a molecular scale and bulk viscosity is always an approximation, because it does not consider molecular-scale effects such as size differences between fluorophore and solvent, electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bond formation, or a possible anisotropy of the environment. Nonetheless, approaches exist to resolve this conflict between bulk viscosity and apparent microviscosity at the molecular scale. Forster and Hoffmann examined some triphenylamine dyes with TICT characteristics. These dyes are characterized by radiationless relaxation from the TICT state. Forster and Hoffmann found a power-law relationship between quantum yield and solvent viscosity both analytically and experimentally [28]. For a quantitative derivation of the power-law relationship, Forster and Hoffmann define the solvent s microfriction k by applying the Debye-Stokes-Einstein diffusion model (2)... 

To increase the speed of the TIRF-based kinetic techniques, the perturbation can be optical rather than chemical. If the evanescent wave intensity is briefly flashed brightly, then some of the fluorophores associated with the surface will be photobleached. Subsequent exchange with unbleached dissolved fluorophores in equilibrium with the surface will lead to a recovery of fluorescence, excited by a continuous but much attenuated evanescent wave. The time course of this recovery is a measure of the desorption kinetic rate k2. This technique1-115) is called TIR/FRAP (or TIR/FPR) in reference to fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (or fluorescence photobleaching recovery). 

Lateral diffusion of phospholipids in model membranes at ambient pressure has been studied over the years by a variety of techniques including fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), spin-label ESR, pulse field gradient NMR (PFG-NMR), quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS), excimer fluorescence and others.In general, the values reported for the lateral diffusion coefficient (D) range from 10 to 10 cm /s in the... 

The velocity of interstitial fluid in solid tumors is often lower than the resolution of experimental techniques, which is 0. lpm/sec, except in some special tumor models. For example, Chary and Jain (1989) have examined interstitial fluid velocity in granulation tissues and VX2 mammary carcinoma grown in rabbit ear chambers, using the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique. The average velocities in both tissues are about 0.6 pm/sec. 

The direct measurement of the various important parameters of foam films (thickness, capillary pressure, contact angles, etc.) makes it possible to derive information about the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of films (disjoining pressure isotherms, potential of the diffuse electric layer, molecular characteristics of foam bilayer, such as binding energy of molecules, linear tension, etc.). Along with it certain techniques employed to reveal foam film structure, being of particular importance for black foam films, are also considered here. These are FT-IR Spectroscopy, Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP), X-ray reflectivity, measurement of the lateral electrical conductivity, measurement of foam film permeability, etc. 

The fluorescent spectroscopy is one of the optical techniques that are widely used in the study of structure and dynamic properties of lipids in lamellar phases [76]. The Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP) is successfully applied in the lateral diffusion studies of BLM (e.g. 77]. FRAP has been employed to study similar phenomena at the air/water interface of Langmuir trough [78]. 

Unambiguous determination of the conditions under which slippage occurs requires a technique able to measure the velocity of the fluid in the immediate vicinity of the solid wall over a thickness comparable to the size of a polymer chain, i.e. a few tens of nanometers. Classical laser Doppler velocimetry does not meet this requirement even if it allows for the determination of velocity profiles which clearly reveal a non-zero velocity within typically a few 10 pm from the wall. We have developed a new optical technique. Near Field Velocimetry (N.F.V.) [14], which combines Evanescent Wave Induced Fluorescence (E.WF.) [27] and Fringe Pattern Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (F.P.F.R.A.P.) [28]. The former technique gives the spatial resolution normal to the solid wall, while the latter one enables the determination of the local velocity of the fluid. A major constraint of the technique is that it needs polymer molecules labelled with an easily photobleachable fluorescent probe. 

Consider surfaces that are inert and may be made (molecularly) smooth, so that, optically speaking, they may be treated as Fresnel surfaces. Mica, certain polished glasses, quartz and silicon wafer surfaces may belong to this category. For such well-defined systems the optical techniques introduced in sec. 1.7.10 come to mind reflectometry, ellipsometry, and (to study the dynamics) fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). The principles of these techniques have been outlined in that section. 

Ras trafficking to cellular membranes can be measured by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP) (54). Both techniques rely on the expression of fluorescent-labeled Ras proteins to monitor different parameters of Ras movement across and between cellular membranes. FRAP involves photobleaching a membrane subdomain and measuring the kinetics of fluorescence recovery—and hence Ras trafflcking—into the bleached area. With FLIP, a cellular membrane is photobleached repeatedly and the subsequent intercellular movement of the photobleached area is monitored. 

Figure 12.29. Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) Technique. (A) The cell-surface fluoresces because of a labeled surface component. (B) The fluorescent molecules of a small part of the surface are bleached by an intense light pulse. (C) The fluorescence intensity recovers as bleached molecules diffuse out of the region and unbleached molecules diffuse into it. (D) The rate of recovery depends on the diffusion coefficient.

Various new techniques suitable for estimating D are now available fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) [5], fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) [6], pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG-NMR) [7], diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) [8], and others. Among these, FCS and FRAP are popular in biological studies because they are often installed on a commercial LSM system and conveniently coupled with it. 

Figure 12.29 Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique.

A third technique for studying foam films is the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). This techniques was applied by Clarke et al. [36] for lateral diffusion in foam films, and involves irreversible photobleaching by intense laser light of fluorophore molecules in the sample. The time of redistribution of probe molecules (which are assumed to be randomly distributed within the constitutive membrane lipids in the film) is monitored. The lateral diffusion coefficient, D, is calculated from the rate of recovery of fluorescence in the bleaching region due to the entry of unbleaching fluoroprobes of adjacent parts of the membranes. 

Another technique, referred to as fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), is also used to observe lateral diffusion. Cell plasma membranes are uniformly labeled with a fluorescent marker. Using a laser beam, the fluorescence in a small area is destroyed (or bleached ). Using video equipment, the lateral movement of membrane components into and out of the bleached area can be tracked as a function of time. 

This chapter reviews several techniques which combine the use of laser microbeams with antibodies to study molecular and cellular biology. An overview of the basic properties of lasers and their integration with microscopes and computers is provided. Biophysical applications, such as fluorescence recovery after photobleaching to measure molecular mobility and fluorescence resonance energy transfer to measure molecular distances, as well as ablative applications for the selective inactivation of proteins or the selective killing of cells are described. Other techniques, such as optical trapping, that do not rely on the interaction of the laser with the targeting antibody, are also discussed. 

One of the recent techniques most commonly used to measure diffusion in 2-dimensions is fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). This method uses a laser beam focused through a fluorescence microscope to follow the diffusion of fluorescent molecules in a plane perpendicular to the laser beam. The fluorescence intensity from a laser spot of known diameter, typically a few microns, is measured. The laser intensity is then increased by approximately 1000 times. This irreversibly photobleaches any fluorophore in the spot. The intensity is then decreased again and the recovery in fluorescence intensity measured as unbleached molecules diffuse into the spot. The time function of fluorescence intensity is then analysed to give surface self-diffusion coefficient (Clark et al. 1990a, b, Wilde Clark 1993, Ladhaetal. 1994). 

Biological membranes are not rigid, static structures. On the contrary, lipids and many membrane proteins are constantly in lateral motion, a process called lateral diffusion. The rapid lateral movement of membrane proteins has been visualized by means of fluorescence microscopy through the use of the technique of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP Figure 12.29). 

Translational diffusion can also be studied by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). This technique v ill not be described... 

Noiiy Ring methods, pendant and spinning drop methods, for surface and interfacial dilational elasticity, thin-film techniques, and surface lateral diffusion when using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) methods. 

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is not a novel technique. In fact, FRAP was first developed in the 1970s as a technique to study the mobility of proteins in living cells (8, 9). Experiments were initially aimed at investigating changes in lateral membrane transport as an indicator or consequence of changes in the physiological state of cells. Early success of FRAP... 

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is a technique that allows the diffusion coefficients of a fluorescent probe to be measured. With a highly intense laser pulse all fluorophores in a selected spot are destroyed irreversibly, and the subsequent diffusion of fresh probe molecules into the area is followed by an increase in the fluorescence intensity. To give an example, gelatine-based organogels in microemulsions were investigated with this method [80]. 

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