Single-molecule tracking experiments

An obvious advantage of single molecule tracking is that it allows for highly detailed analyses of the movements of individual molecules that are obscured in population-based measurements such as FRAP and photoactivation experiments. However, SPT... 

Accumulating evidence clearly points at involvement of the cell cytoskeleton in the compartmentalization of the membrane, in particular, the fine cytoskeleton filaments formed by actin in most eukaryotic cells or spectrin in mammalian red blood cells. However, single-particle tracking experiments show the same patterns of hop-diffusion for lipid molecules located in the extracellular leaflet of the plasma membrane. How can the membrane skeleton, which is located only on the cytoplasmic surface of the membrane, suppress the motion of lipids on the extracellular side ... 

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