Fluorescence- based approach for bio-membrane studies

Abstract: In this thesis the isomerization process of the Merocyanine 540 fluorophore is studied. The presence of that process, when the dye is attached to the lipid membrane, was not reported before, and thus become a main interest of this work. For the further investigation: the reaction of the isomerization dynamics to the different properties of the membrane was studied. The influence of such membrane’s parameters as the size, polarity and fluidity were checked. It was revealed that the isomerization of the MC 540 is present inside the lipid membranes, and its dynamics is changed with the membrane’s polarity and viscosity. So the MC 540 could be in use as a probe for the investigation ofthe membrane’s properties. The isomerization process was studied with the help of the fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) which is a powerful technique for the single molecule studies.