Direct measurement of diffusion in olfactory cilia using a modified FRAP approach

Abstract

The diffusion coefficient of fluorescein in detached cilia of Xenopus laevis olfactory receptor neurons was measured using spatially-resolved FRAP, where the dye along half of the ciliary length was photobleached and its spatiotemporal fluorescence redistribution recorded. Fitting a one-dimensional numerical simulation of diffusion and photobleaching for 35 cilia resulted in a mean value of the diffusion coefficient (1.20±0.23)·10-10m2/s compared to free diffusion in aqueous solution. © 2012 Alevra et al.