Number and Brightness Analysis: Visualization of Protein Oligomeric State in Living Cells.

Number and brightness (N&B) analysis helps to visualize protein oligomer and its localization in a living cell. N&B analysis provides apparent brightness, which reflects the oligomeric state of a fluorescently labeled protein, by analyzing the temporal intensity fluctuation at each pixel. N&B analysis is useful in understanding the dynamic oligomerization in signal transduction and neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, it also helps in gaining useful insights regarding the controlling mechanisms in protein function. In this chapter, we describe the basic theory and notations of N&B analysis implemented with confocal laser scanning microscopy for quantitative analyses.