Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching

**Definition:** A method used to study the lateral movement of MEMBRANE PROTEINS and LIPIDS. A small area of a cell membrane is bleached by laser light and the amount of time necessary for unbleached fluorescent marker-tagged proteins to diffuse back into the bleached site is a measurement of the cell membrane's fluidity. The diffusion coefficient of a protein or lipid in the membrane can be calculated from the data. (From Segen, Current Med Talk, 1995).

**Tree numbers:** - E05.196.712.516.600.393

**Synonyms:** - Fluorescence Photobleaching Recovery - FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching)