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Model-free methods to study membrane environmental probes: a comparison of the spectral phasor and generalized
Leonel Malacrida1, Enrico Gratton, David M Jameson
1Área de Investigación Respiratoria, Departamento de Fisiopatología, Hospital de Medicina-Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay. Biochemistry and Proteomic Analytical Unit, Institut Pasteur of Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay. Present address: Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics, Biomedical Engineering Department, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Abstract:
In this note, we present a discussion of the advantages and scope of model-free analysis methods applied to the popular solvatochromic probe LAURDAN, which is widely used as an environmental probe to study dynamics and structure in membranes. In particular, we compare and contrast the generalized polarization approach with the spectral phasor approach. To illustrate our points we utilize several model membrane systems containing pure lipid phases and, in some cases, cholesterol or surfactants. We demonstrate that the spectral phasor method offers definitive advantages in the case of complex systems.
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