title: A generalization of theory for two-dimensional fluorescence recovery after photobleaching applicable to confocal laser scanning microscopes.
abstract: Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) using confocal laser scanning microscopes (confocal FRAP) has become a valuable technique for studying the diffusion of biomolecules in cells. However, two-dimensional confocal FRAP sometimes yields results that vary with experimental setups, such as different bleaching protocols and bleaching spot sizes. In addition, when confocal FRAP is used to measure diffusion coefficients (D) for fast diffusing molecules, it often yields D-values that are one or two orders-of-magnitude smaller than that predicted theoretically or measured by alternative methods such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Recently, it was demonstrated that this underestimation of D can be corrected by taking diffusion during photobleaching into consideration. However, there is currently no consensus on confocal FRAP theory, and no efforts have been made to unify theories on conventional and confocal FRAP. To this end, we generalized conventional FRAP theory to incorporate diffusion during photobleaching so that analysis by conventional FRAP theory for a circular region of interest is easily applicable to confocal FRAP. Finally, we demonstrate the accuracy of these new (to our knowledge) formulae by measuring D for soluble enhanced green fluorescent protein in aqueous glycerol solution and in the cytoplasm and nucleus of COS7 cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Minchul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.forename: Anne K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Kenworthy
authors.forename: Emmanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: DiBenedetto
mesh_terms: D020106:Acrylamide / Q000737:chemistry; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry; D004058:Diffusion; D036681:Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching / Q000379:methods*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D007700:Kinetics; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016011:Normal Distribution; D014162:Transfection; D014783:Viscosity; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D014867:Water; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D020106:Acrylamide; D005990:Glycerol