Measurement of lateral diffusion in phospholipid multibilayers by Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) (CAT#: STEM-MT-0003-WXH)

Introduction

Movement of lipids within each leaflet of the lipid bilayer occurs readily and rapidly due to membrane fluidity. This type of movement is called lateral diffusion and can be measured by the technique called FRAP.
Membrane protein lateral diffusion can be constrained in several ways: Diffusion can be slower than that predicted for a simple, fluid lipid bilayer; diffusion can be confined to certain regions within the total membrane; and diffusion may not be equally probable in all directions, i.e. it may be anisotropic.