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Elucidating Anomalous Protein Diffusion in Living Cells with Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy—Facts and Pitfalls

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Abstract

Anomalous protein diffusion has been frequently observed in intracellular fluids and on membranes of living cells. Indeed, a large variety of specimen, from bacteriae to mammalian cells, and several non-invasive measurement techniques, e.g. fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, have revealed that the mean square displacement (MSD) of proteins in vivo is often characterized by an anomalous power-law increase \(\langle r(t)^2\rangle\sim t^\alpha\) with 0.5 < α ≤ 0.8. Here, we review these results with a particular focus on fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, and we report on possible causes of variations of the anomaly degree α. Moreover, we highlight generic consequences of anomalous diffusion that are likely to play an important role in the cellular context.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Institute for Modeling and Simulation in the Biosciences (BIOMS) in Heidelberg. NM was funded by the Harmut Hoffmann-Berling International Graduate School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Heidelberg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cellular Biophysics Group, German Cancer Research Center, c/o BIOQUANT, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Nina Malchus & Matthias Weiss

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  1. Nina Malchus
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  2. Matthias Weiss
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Correspondence to Matthias Weiss.

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Malchus, N., Weiss, M. Elucidating Anomalous Protein Diffusion in Living Cells with Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy—Facts and Pitfalls. J Fluoresc 20, 19–26 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-009-0517-4

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