Quantitative imaging of molecular order in lipid membranes using two-photon fluorescence polarimetry

Alicja Gasecka, Tsai Jung Han, Cyril Favard, Bong Rae Cho, Sophie Brasselet

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present a polarimetric two-photon microscopy technique to quantitatively image the local static molecular orientational behavior in lipid and cell membranes. This approach, based on a tunable excitation polarization state complemented by a polarized readout, is easily implementable and does not require hypotheses on the molecular angular distribution such as its mean orientation, which is a main limitation in traditional fluorescence anisotropy measurements. The method is applied to the investigation of the molecular angular distribution in giant unilamellar vesicles formed by liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered micro-domains, and in COS-7 cell membranes. The highest order contrast between ordered and disordered domains is obtained for dyes locating within the membrane acyl chains.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2854-2862
Number of pages9
JournalBiophysical Journal
Volume97
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009 Nov 15

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biophysics

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