Abstract
The spin labeling method has greatly contributed in the research of the biomembrane. Especially, it has beenwidely used in the research of the membrane fluidity. And it gave an important knowledge for the construction of thefluid mosaic biomembrane model proposed by Singer and Nicolson. Extended spin labeling methods, TEMPO andspin–spin exchange, were applied to the studies of phase transition and phase separation, respectively, and manyremarkable results were obtained. In the field of cell biology, introduction of green fluorescence protein (GFP) anddevelopment of confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) have elucidated important biological function by CLSMimaging. The author and colleagues have developed microscopic imaging instrument using environment sensitivefluorescence dye, laurdan, and have applied it to study of ‘raft’.
