title: Photobleaching and photoactivation: following protein dynamics in living cells.
abstract: Cell biology is being transformed by the use of fluorescent proteins as fusion tags to track protein behaviour in living cells. Here, we discuss the techniques of photobleaching and photoactivation, which can reveal the location and movement of proteins. Widespread applications of these fluorescent-based methods are revealing new aspects of protein dynamics and the biological processes that they regulate.
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. jlippin@helix.nih.gov
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lippincott-Schwartz
authors.forename: Nihal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Altan-Bonnet
authors.forename: George H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D038761:Photobleaching; D010777:Photochemistry; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011506:Proteins