Simulcast: contiguous views of fracture faces and membrane surfaces in a single cell.
We introduce "simulcast", a new method that combines the advantages of freeze-fracture with those of "fracture-flip" (Anderson-Forsman, C., P. Pinto da Silva, J. Cell Sci. 90, 531-541 (1988)) to provide images of the fracture faces and membrane surfaces of the same membrane in a single cell. The method involves low-angle unidirectional shadowing, careful azimuthal reorientation of the replicas, flipping, and re-shadowing. Simulcast relates, in a single image, the freeze-fracture morphology of fracture faces, the nanoanatomy of membrane surfaces and the topochemistry of surface receptors/antigens.
Ru-Long
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S
Membrane Biology Section, National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research MD 21702-1201.
Pinto da Silva
P
P
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005614:Freeze Fracturing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012617:Sea Urchins; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000648:ultrastructure