  Measurements of lateral diffusion of proteins in a membrane typically assume
that the movement of the protein occurs in a flat plane. Real membranes,
however, are subject to thermal fluctuations, leading to movement of an
inclusion into the third dimension. We calculate the magnitude of this effect
by projecting real three-dimensional diffusion onto an effective one on a flat
plane. We consider both a protein that is free to diffuse in the membrane and
one that also couples to the local curvature. For a freely diffusing inclusion
the measured projected diffusion constant is up to 15% smaller than the actual
value. Coupling to the curvature enhances diffusion significantly up to a
factor of two.
