title: Photoinduced flip-flop of amphiphilic molecules in lipid bilayer membranes.
abstract: We demonstrate localized photoinduced flip-flop of stilbazolium markers in model lipid bilayer membranes. The flip-flop mechanism and dynamics are determined by combined two-photon excited fluorescence and second-harmonic generation microscopy. Upon illumination of labeled membranes with a femtosecond laser beam, two-photon absorption induced photoisomerization provokes a significant increase in the cis- marker population whose flip-flop rate was determined to be at least a thousand times faster than that for transmarkers, allowing the possibility of fast targeted control of the local interleaflet distribution of markers in biological membranes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurophysiologie et Nouvelles Microscopies, INSERM EPI00-02,CNRS FRE 2500, ESPCI, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pons
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moreaux
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mertz