title: Rethinking cell structure.
abstract: Cell structure, emerging from behind the veil of conventional electron microscopy, appears far more complex than formerly realized. The standard plastic-embedded, ultrathin section can image only what is on the section surface and masks the elaborate networks of the cytoplasm and nucleus. Embedment-free electron microscopy gives clear, high-contrast micrographs of cell structure when combined with removal of obscuring material such as soluble proteins. The resinless ultrathin section is the technique of choice; it is simple and inexpensive, and it uses ordinary electron microscopes. The resulting pictures reveal a world of complex cell structure and function. These images necessarily change our conception of the cytoskeleton, nuclear matrix, mitosis, and the relation of membranes to cytostructure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Penman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002477:Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods; D008938:Mitosis; D015530:Nuclear Matrix / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015388:Organelles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011506:Proteins / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012503:Saponins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012503:Saponins