Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a single molecule technique used mainly for determination of mobility and local concentration of molecules. This review describes the specific problems of FCS in planar systems and reviews the state of the art experimental approaches such as 2-focus, Z-scan or scanning FCS, which overcome most of the artefacts and limitations of standard FCS. We focus on diffusion measurements of lipids and proteins in planar lipid membranes and review the contributions of FCS to elucidating membrane dynamics and the factors influencing it, such as membrane composition, ionic strength, presence of membrane proteins or frictional coupling with solid support.

• Keywords
• biomembranes, confocal microscopy, fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy, giant unilamellar vesicles, lateral diffusion, supported lipid bilayers,
• MeSH
• Diffusion MeSH
• Spectrometry, Fluorescence * MeSH
• Microscopy, Confocal MeSH
• Lipid Bilayers chemistry   MeSH
• Membrane Lipids chemistry   MeSH
• Unilamellar Liposomes chemistry   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Lipid Bilayers MeSH
• Membrane Lipids MeSH
• Unilamellar Liposomes MeSH