title: A Versatile High-Vacuum Cryo-transfer System for Cryo-microscopy and Analytics.
abstract: Cryogenic microscopy methods have gained increasing popularity, as they offer an unaltered view on the architecture of biological specimens. As a prerequisite, samples must be handled under cryogenic conditions below their recrystallization temperature, and contamination during sample transfer and handling must be prevented. We present a high-vacuum cryo-transfer system that streamlines the entire handling of frozen-hydrated samples from the vitrification process to low temperature imaging for scanning transmission electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A template for cryo-electron microscopy and multimodal cryo-imaging approaches with numerous sample transfer steps is presented.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. Electronic address: s.tacke@uni-muenster.de.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tacke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Scientific Instruments, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Vladislav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krzyzanek
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nüsse
authors.affiliation: Scientific Center for Optical and Electron Microscopy, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roger Albert
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Wepf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klingauf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reichelt
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D003080:Cold Temperature; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D007053:Ice; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014618:Vacuum
chemical_list: D007053:Ice