ABSTRACT

There are several commonly used approaches for the study of membrane properties of live cells based on uorescence probes. In one approach, lipids with specic uorescent markers are incorporated in the cell membranes. The advantage of this approach is that it is possible to study the membrane distribution of specic lipids. However, when the aim of the study is to detect membrane microdomains independently of their

13.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 283 13.1.1 Spectroscopic Properties of Laurdan................................................ 283

13.2 The Phasor Approach to Spectral and Lifetime Analysis ............................287 13.3 The Lifetime Phasor Transformation and Its Interpretation ......................... 289 13.4 Results of the Analysis of the Emission of Laurdan Using Spectral and

Lifetime Phasors in GUVs Model Systems .................................................. 291 13.5 The Lifetime Phasor for Laurdan in GUVs ..................................................292 13.6 Live Cell Membrane Fluidity ....................................................................... 295

13.6.1 Spectral Phasors................................................................................ 295 13.6.2 Lifetime Phasors in Live 3T3 Cells ..................................................297