title: SEM studies of surfaces hidden within bulk tissue: a simple technique to control the position and orientation of dry fracture planes.
abstract: A simple, reliable method for the exposure of specific structures hidden within bulk tissue for viewing by SEM is described. The method employs dry fracture after critical-point drying and differs from other dry fracture methods in that the fracture plane is 'engineered' by the experimenter, thus overcoming the tendency for natural planes of weakness within the specimen exclusively to define the fracture plane. The technique retains the simplicity of the very high-quality in situ cellular relationships normally associated with random dry fracture. Attention is given to novel means of circumventing the artefacts that are normally a problem with dry fracture techniques.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, U.K.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hirst
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Howard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016591:Histocytological Preparation Techniques; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods*; D016707:Tissue Fixation; D014981:Xenopus