title: Single-particle tracking: the distribution of diffusion coefficients.
abstract: In single-particle tracking experiments, the diffusion coefficient D may be measured from the trajectory of an individual particle in the cell membrane. The statistical distribution of single-trajectory diffusion coefficients is examined by Monte Carlo calculations. The width of this distribution may be useful as a measure of the heterogeneity of the membrane and as a test of models of hindered diffusion in the membrane. For some models, the distribution of the short-range diffusion coefficient is much narrower than the observed distribution for proteins diffusing in cell membranes. To aid in the analysis of single-particle tracking measurements, the distribution of D is examined for various definitions of D and for various trajectory lengths.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Theoretical Dynamics, University of California, Davis 95616, USA. mjsaxton@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Saxton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004058:Diffusion; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D008565:Membrane Proteins