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From Fast Fluorescence Imaging to Molecular Diffusion Law on Live Cell Membranes in a Commercial Microscope
Published on: October 9, 2014
Temporal analysis of active and passive transport in living cells
Delphine Arcizet1, Börn Meier, Erich Sackmann
1Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, D-80539 Munich, Germany. delphine.arcizet@physik.lmu.de
Abstract:
The cellular cytoskeleton is a fascinating active network, in which Brownian motion is intercepted by distinct phases of active transport. We present a time-resolved statistical analysis dissecting phases of directed motion out of otherwise diffusive motion of tracer particles in living cells. The distribution of active lifetimes is found to decay exponentially with a characteristic time tauA = 0.65 s. The velocity distribution of active events exhibits several peaks, in agreement with a discrete number of motor proteins acting collectively.
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