ABSTRACT
The combination of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and current fluorescent-based technologies provide an efficient platform for the study of membranes in terms of the presence and size of membrane domains, lipid-protein and protein-protein interactions within the membrane, and additional factors that can directly alter the lateral mobility of lipids. Hence, this chapter focuses on fluorescence-based approaches involved in broad understanding of the dynamic properties of biological membranes by using a simple and biochemically well-defined system such as GUVs. In particular, the principles and applications of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and single-molecule imaging (SMI) are described, as well as the current limitations which are expected to be overcome during the next years.
