Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

This book presents the theoretical background to fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and a variety of applications in various fields of science. FCS is based on the detection of single molecules excited to fluorescence in diffraction limited confocal volume elements and the time correlation of stochastic events. It provides ultimate sensitivity in the analysis of molecular processes and has found numerous applications in physics, chemistry and particularly in biomolecular sciences. Its high spatial and temporal resolution has made FCS a powerful tool for the analysis of molecular interactions and kinetics, transport properties due to thermal motion and flow, as well as the physics of the excited state in solution as well as at the cellular level. Its application in high throughput drug screening is using all the potential of this prime analytical tool. TOC:FCS in environmental analysis.- New outlooks for FCS.- FCS in nucleic acid analysis.- FCS in high throughput screening.- Signal analysis in FCS.- FCS in the study of protein-ligand interaction.- FCS in diagnostic applications.- Antibunching and rotational motion in FCS.- FCS in drug discovery.- FCS and spatial correlations on biological surfaces.- Identification of Alzheimer and Prion aggregation.- Higher order FCS.- Confocal optics for single and 2-color FCS.- Cross correlation analysis in FCS.- FCS in the 2-photon regime.- Triple state and photostability.- FCS of flavine-enzymes.- Ray tracing and simulation optical beams of FCS.