title: Electron microscopic toluidine blue staining of the erythrocyte membrane.
abstract: Incubation in ferricyanide medium of toluidine blue stained erythrocytes produces opaque precipitates lining either aspect of the cell membrane. In addition, granular and needle-shaped precipitates occupy an intra- or extracellular position. Staining of the outer aspect of the membrane may reflect toluidine blue binding of the erythrocyte glycocalyx. Precipitates at the inner leaflet resemble Ca2+ affinity sites which were considered phosphorylated spectrins. Comparison with the light microscopic topo-optical toluidine blue reaction proved most of the electron dense precitates noncontributive to anisotropic staining.
mesh_terms: D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006652:Histological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*