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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Measurement of Force-Sensitive Protein Dynamics in Living Cells Using a Combination of Fluorescent Techniques
Published on: November 2, 2018
Quantitative FRAP in analysis of molecular binding dynamics in vivo
1Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Abstract:
Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) reveals the dynamics of fluorescently tagged molecules within live cells. These molecular dynamics are governed by diffusion of the molecule and its in vivo binding interactions. As a result, quantitative estimates of the association and dissociation rates of binding can be extracted from the FRAP. This chapter describes a systematic procedure to acquire the FRAP data, and then fit it with appropriate mathematical models to estimate in vivo association and dissociation rates of binding. Also discussed are the applicability and limitations of the models, the utility of the estimated parameters, and the prospects for increased accuracy and confidence in the estimates.
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