scholarly journals Potassium permanganate is an excellent alternative to osmium tetroxide in freeze-substitution

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Schauflinger ◽  
Tim Bergner ◽  
Gregor Neusser ◽  
Christine Kranz ◽  
Clarissa Read
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Potassium Permanganate ◽  
Lipid Membranes ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Block Face ◽  
Critical Aspects

AbstractHigh-pressure freezing followed by freeze-substitution is a valuable method for ultrastructural analyses of resin-embedded biological samples. The visualization of lipid membranes is one of the most critical aspects of any ultrastructural study and can be especially challenging in high-pressure frozen specimens. Historically, osmium tetroxide has been the preferred fixative and staining agent for lipid-containing structures in freeze-substitution solutions. However, osmium tetroxide is not only a rare and expensive material, but also volatile and toxic. Here, we introduce the use of a combination of potassium permanganate, uranyl acetate, and water in acetone as complementing reagents during the freeze-substitution process. This mix imparts an intense en bloc stain to cellular ultrastructure and membranes, which makes poststaining superfluous and is well suited for block-face imaging. Thus, potassium permanganate can effectively replace osmium tetroxide in the freeze-substitution solution without sacrificing the quality of ultrastructural preservation.

Rapid Embedding Methods into Epoxy and LR White Resins for Morphological and Immunological Analysis of Cryofixed Biological Specimens

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent L. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Danio Rerio ◽  
Processing Time ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Total Processing Time ◽  
Lr White ◽  
Salpingoeca Rosetta ◽  
Embedding Methods

AbstractA variety of specimens including bacteria, ciliates, choanoflagellates (Salpingoeca rosetta), zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos, nematode worms (Caenorhabditis elegans), and leaves of white clover (Trifolium repens) plants were high pressure frozen, freeze-substituted, infiltrated with either Epon, Epon-Araldite, or LR White resins, and polymerized. Total processing time from freezing to blocks ready to section was about 6 h. For epoxy embedding the specimens were freeze-substituted in 1% osmium tetroxide plus 0.1% uranyl acetate in acetone. For embedding in LR White the freeze-substitution medium was 0.2% uranyl acetate in acetone. Rapid infiltration was achieved by centrifugation through increasing concentrations of resin followed by polymerization at 100°C for 1.5–2 h. The preservation of ultrastructure was comparable to standard freeze substitution and resin embedding methods that take days to complete. On-section immunolabeling results for actin and tubulin molecules were positive with very low background labeling. The LR White methods offer a safer, quicker, and less-expensive alternative to Lowicryl embedding of specimens processed for on-section immunolabeling without traditional aldehyde fixatives.

Cellular Contacts Within the Interhemal Membrane of the Rat Placenta at Term

1974 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 146-147
Author(s):  
William P. Jollie
Keyword(s):  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Capillary Endothelium ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Aldehyde Fixation ◽  
Chorioallantoic Placenta

By routine EM preparative techniques, the tissues which, collectively, separate maternal and fetal bloods in the fully formed chorioallantoic placenta of the rat have been shown to consist of three chorionic layers, or trophoblast, and a layer of allantoic capillary endothelium [Fig. 1]. Relationships between these layers are best demonstrated by special techniques, viz., cacodylate-buffered aldehyde fixation, collidine-buffered osmium tetroxide postfixation, and en bloc staining with uranyl acetate. By using this method on placentas at term, the cells of the outermost chorionic layer (Trophoblast 1) appear to be attached to each other by means of maculae adherentes which sometimes occur in clusters [Fig. 2].

Ultrastructural comparison of prolactin adenomas of pituitary in men and women

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 346-347
Author(s):  
R.C. Caughey ◽  
U.P. Kalyan-Raman
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Phosphate Buffer ◽  
Pituitary Adenomas ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Secretory Granules ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Transmission Electron

Prolactin producing pituitary adenomas are ultrastructurally characterized by secretory granules varying in size (150-300nm), abundance of endoplasmic reticulum, and misplaced exocytosis. They are also subclassified as sparsely or densely granulated according to the amount of granules present. The hormone levels in men and women vary, being higher in men; so also the symptoms vary between both sexes. In order to understand this variation, we studied 21 prolactin producing pituitary adenomas by transmission electron microscope. This was out of a total of 80 pituitary adenomas. There were 6 men and 15 women in this group of 21 prolactinomas.All of the pituitary adenomas were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde, rinsed in Millonig's phosphate buffer, and post fixed with 1% osmium tetroxide. They were then en bloc stained with 0.5% uranyl acetate, rinsed with Walpole's non-phosphate buffer, dehydrated with graded series of ethanols and embedded with Epon 812 epoxy resin.

Perfusion fixation of lungs for structure-function analysis: credits and limitations

1982 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 528-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Bachofen ◽  
A. Ammann ◽  
D. Wangensteen ◽  
E. R. Weibel
Keyword(s):  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Transpulmonary Pressure ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Vascular Perfusion ◽  
Lung Weight ◽  
Physiological Variables ◽  
Isotonic Buffer ◽  
Perfusion Fixation

The quality of tissue preservation in lungs fixed by vascular perfusion has been reevaluated. Excised rabbit lungs inflated to 60% of total lung capacity were perfused (zone III conditions) with different but widely used fixatives. The effects of the perfusates on pertinent physiological variables have been assessed by a continuous monitoring, the effects on the pulmonary microstructure by qualitative and morphometric analysis of electron micrographs. Important results include the following. 1) Perfusions with isotonic glutaraldehyde at flow rates within the physiological range produce large increases of perfusion pressure and lung weight that reflect intracellular, interstitial, and intra-alveolar edema. 2) No edema occurs if glutaraldehyde is added to isotonic buffer solutions (total osmolarity 510 mosM). 3) Glutaraldehyde as sole perfusate does not fully eliminate the retractive force of lung tissue. Upon release of transpulmonary pressure the lungs retract by an indeterminable amount. 4) Satisfactory results can be obtained by sequential perfusion with osmium tetroxide and uranyl acetate or glutaraldehyde (510 mosM) followed by osmium tetroxide and uranyl acetate. The latter combination yields optimal preparations to study the alveolar and capillary architecture but causes a hyperosmotic volume loss of lung cells (cell shrinkage).

Ultrastructure of the Infection of Poinsettia by Oidium SP. using High Pressure Freezing and Freeze Substitution

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (S2) ◽  
pp. 690-691
Author(s):  
G. J. Celio ◽  
E. A. Richardson ◽  
C. W. Mims
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Euphorbia Pulcherrima ◽  
High Pressure Freezing ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Dextran Solution ◽  
Leaf Disks ◽  
Diamond Knife

Cryofixation is becoming more widely used to study host-pathogen relationships in fungal diseases of plants. This presentation describes results we have obtained using high pressure freezing and freeze substitution to study powdery mildew disease of poinsettia ﹛Euphorbia pulcherrima) caused by Oidium sp.Approximately 0.5 mm leaf disks bearing sporulating colonies of Oidium sp. were excised and placed in a 15% dextran solution contained in brass planchets. Samples were frozen using a Balzer's HPM 010 High Pressure Freezing Machine and substituted according to the procedures of Hoch.6 Thin sections of embedded leaves were cut using a diamond knife, collected on gold slot grids, and placed on formvar-coated racks. Sections were poststained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and examined using a Zeiss EM 902A transmission electron microscope.Outstanding preservation of haustoria, the specialized nutrient-absorbing structures produced in host epidermal cells by Oidium, was obtained. Both young, unlobed (Fig. 1) as well as mature, highly lobed (Fig. 2) haustoria were observed.

Nonspecific structures seen in diagnostic muscle biopsies

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 846-847
Author(s):  
R. C. Caughey ◽  
U. P. Kalyan-Raman
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Clinical History ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Ethanol Dehydration ◽  
Tubular Aggregates ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Muscle Biopsies

In a period of two years we have analyzed 50 muscle biopsies using the transmission electron microscope. Six nonspecific structures consisting of filamentous bodies, tubular aggregates, paracrystalline mitochondrial inclusions, honeycomb arrays, concentric laminated bodies, and finger print profiles were observed in 47 of 50 cases. In order to know the significance of these structures in muscle biopsies, we correlated their occurrence with their clinical history, histological findings, and histochemistry.The biopsies were initially fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde (pH. 7.5, 500 mOsm), then randomly minced and post fixed in 1% osmium tetroxide. All biopsies were processed with and without uranyl acetate en bloc staining in Walpole's buffer before ethanol dehydration. They were embedded in Epon 812 epoxy resin, sectioned, and stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate before evaluation with a JEOL, JEM 100 C Transmission Electron Microscope. All grid squares of six different blocks were scanned to evaluate the ultra-structural pathology.

Electron Microscopy as an aid to diagnosis in pediatric hematology/oncology

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 1062-1063
Author(s):  
K. L. Saving ◽  
R. C. Caughey
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Phosphate Buffer ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Megakaryoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Pediatric Hematology ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Microscopy Techniques

This presentation is designed to demonstrate how scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques can be utilized to confirm or support a variety of unusual pediatric hematologic/oncologic disorders. Patients with the following diagnoses will be presented: (1) hereditary pyropoikilocytosis, (2) familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, (3) acute megakaryoblastic leukemia, and (4) pseudo-von Willebrand’s disease.All transmission and scanning electron microscopy samples were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde, rinsed in Millonig’s phosphate buffer, and post-fixed with 1% osmium tetroxide. The transmission samples were then en bloc stained with 0.5% uranyl acetate, rinsed with Walpole ’ s non-phosphate buffer, dehydrated with graded series of ethanols and embedded with Epon 812 epoxy resin. Ultramicrotomy thin sections were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and scanned using a JEOL-JEM 100C, The scanning samples were dehydrated with graded series of ethanols, critical point dried with CO2, gold-coated, and scanned using a JEOL-JSM 35. The peroxidase samples were fixed in 3% glutaraldehyde, incubated in diaminobenzidine (DAB), dehydrated with ethanol, embedded with Epon 812, and scanned without post-staining using a JEOL-JEM 100C.

High-pressure freezing improves quantitative and qualitative structural data in the actinomycete microsymbiont frankia

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 110-111
Author(s):  
R. Howard Berg
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Plant Root ◽  
Root Nodules ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
High Pressure Freezing ◽  
Void Space ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Tem Analysis

Symbiotic plant root nodules containing the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Frankia occur on a variety of woody shrubs and trees. Ever since the first micrographs of freeze substituted cells of Frankia in culture were published there has been impetus to see if freeze substitued nodule tissue will improve imaging of Frankia in vivo. High pressure freezing/freeze substitution (HPFS) accomplishes this.Frankia is an actinomycete that fixes N2 in a specialized multicellular, spherical structure termed the “symbiotic vesicle” that is surrounded by a multilamellate envelope (MLE) comprised of lipids. Early work based on MLE birefringence suggested the MLE was a O2 diffusion barrier, thereby protecting nitrogenase from O2- inactivation. Recently this has been challenged by freeze fracture data. Traditionally it has been assumed that the MLE is electrontranslucent because the lamina of the MLE are extracted by dehydration solvents, producing the “void space”--an extraction artifact hindering TEM analysis of MLE structure.En bloc staining with chromic acid stains the MLE, showing that the MLE is present after exposure to dehydration solvents and that the void space results from tissue shrinkage in the symbiotic vesicle (Figure 1).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document