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Fluorescence and FRET in Membranes

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Encyclopedia of Biophysics

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Synonyms

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET); Lipid bilayer

Definition

Fluorescence methodologies are based on emission of light from a substance in an electronically excited singlet state. Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) denotes a photophysical process upon which the excitation energy of a molecule, the donor, is transferred to another, the acceptor, without emission of light from the former or collision between the two species.

Introduction

The molecular level organization and structure/function relationships in membrane systems pose challenging problems that require a variety of experimental approaches for their study. Among these, and due to its sensitivity and versatility, fluorescence came to the fore. The timescale of fluorescence (sub-ns resolution) is adequate to follow the kinetics of both fast (fluorophore rotation, conformational changes) and relatively slow (translocation, hindered diffusion) processes. Its intrinsic sensitivity is almost unrivalled and...

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References

  • Klymchenko AS (2015) Using fluorescence for studies of biological membranes: a review. Methods Appl Fluoresc 3:042003

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  • Lakowicz JR (2006) Principles of fluorescence spectroscopy, 3rd edn. Springer, New York

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  • Loura LMS, Prieto M (2013) Lateral membrane heterogeneity probed by FRET spectroscopy and microscopy. In: Mély Y, Duportail G (eds) Fluorescent methods to study biological membranes. Springer, Berlin, pp 71–113

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  • Santos NC, Prieto M, Castanho MARB (2003) Quantifying molecular partition into model systems of biomembranes: an emphasis on optical spectroscopic methods. Biochim Biophys Acta 1612:123–135

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  • Stone MB, Shelby SA, Veatch SL (2017) Super-resolution microscopy: shedding light on the cellular plasma membrane. Chem Rev 117:7457–7477

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy and Center for Chemistry of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Luís M. S. Loura

  2. CQFM-IN and iBB- Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Manuel Prieto

Authors
  1. Luís M. S. Loura
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  2. Manuel Prieto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luís M. S. Loura .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Leicester MRC Centre, Leicester, UK

    Gordon Roberts

  2. Dept Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anthony Watts

Section Editor information

  1. Membrane Biophysics Platform, Department of Chemistry and Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK

    John Seddon

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© 2019 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA)

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Loura, L.M.S., Prieto, M. (2019). Fluorescence and FRET in Membranes. In: Roberts, G., Watts, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_559-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_559-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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