Structural Organization of Detergent-Extracted Cells
Adequate visualization of the three-dimensional organization has always been a major problem in studies of cell architecture. Efforts of numerous investigators weredevoted to the question of how best information can be collected from specimens prepared with different procedures. In recent years, the potential of high voltage electron microscopy has been combined with a technique for sample preparation that circumvents embedding, namely critical point-drying from CO2, to study the three-dimensional fine structure of cells in culture. This approach has revealed new insights into the structural organization of the cytoplasm (1-4). A system of slender strands or microtrabeculae has been described to form an elaborate three-dimensional lattice in which other organelles are embedded. This system has been shown in some cells to undergo rapid conformational changes (3,5) and in general is believed to be an important component of the cytoskeleton, being responsible for the gelatious properties of the cytoplasm.