Photobleaching Techniques/ FLIP-Fluorescence Loss In Photobleaching

This technique is used to study the diffusion of molecules among different connected/communicated cell compartments. A fluorescent cell is repeatedly photobleached within a small region while the whole cell is continuously imaged. Any regions of the cell that are connected to the bleached area will loose fluorescence due to the displacement of fluorescent proteins into this area. By contrast, the fluorescence in unconnected regions will not be affected.