title: A method for staining actin-containing structures in thick plastic sections for medium voltage electron microscopy.
abstract: A staining procedure has been developed for imaging actin-containing structures in thick plastic sections in the electron microscope. The stress fibres of a fibroblastic cell line were used as a model system, and were first characterized immunocytochemically. After fixation of cells in formaldehyde, mordanting in a solution of gadolinium chloride allows stress fibres to be stained for light microscopy with haematoxylin. A brief exposure to a solution of ammonium paramolybdate renders haematoxylin-stained structures sufficiently electron-dense to be imaged in 1 micron thick plastic sections in a JEOL 200CX electron microscope, operating at 200 kV, and possibly in conventional instruments operating at 100 kV, particularly if equipped with a lanthanum hexaboride source.
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae; D002460:Cell Line; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D000199:Actins