Label-fracture of cell surfaces by replica staining.
We introduce replica-staining label-fracture, a method for the cytochemical mapping of membrane surfaces. This method is a corollary of the rationale of label-fracture (Pinto da Silva and Kan, 1984: J Cell Biol 99:1156). After freeze-fracture the exoplasmic halves of the membrane remain attached to the replica. We show that cytochemical labeling of cell surfaces can be performed by direct post-fracture staining of freeze-fracture replicas. This new variant of label-fracture leads to miniaturization of labeling procedures and allows standardization of labeling conditions and simultaneous processing of different specimens.
Forsman
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CA
Membrane Biology Section/Laboratory of Mathematical Biology, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research Facility, Maryland 21701.
Pinto da Silva
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D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003102:Colloids; D003208:Concanavalin A; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005614:Freeze Fracturing; D006046:Gold; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins
D003102:Colloids; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; D003208:Concanavalin A; D006046:Gold