Preparation and assessment of frozen-hydrated sections of mammalian tissue for electron microscopy and X-ray microprobe analysis.
A system is described for preparing and examining frozen-hydrated sections of mammalian tissue, using commercially available equipment. An essential part of the system is a liquid nitrogen cooled vacuum transfer system. Minor modifications were required to interface the various manufacturers' equipment, and also to facilitate handling of specimens in the cryoultramicrotome. A variety of criteria indicates that our sections are truly frozen-hydrated, but negligible image contrast in the sections is a serious problem both for morphological work and X-ray microanalysis.
D000818:Animals; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis / Q000379:methods*; D005612:Freeze Drying; D005629:Frozen Sections; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D008867:Microtomy; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D013154:Spleen / Q000648:ultrastructure