Plasma Membrane Stability during Rehydration of Dried Typha latifolia Pollen: a High Resolution Cryo-SEM Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (S03) ◽  
pp. 502-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaap Nijsse ◽  
Paul Walther ◽  
Elena Golovina ◽  
Folkert A. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Typha Latifolia ◽  
Membrane Stability ◽  
Sem Study

High-Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy of Biological Specimens

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 186-187
Author(s):  
M. Müller ◽  
R. Hermann
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Freeze Drying ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Critical Point Drying ◽  
Sem Study ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
Structural Preservation ◽  
Preparation Techniques

Three major factors must be concomitantly assessed in order to extract relevant structural information from the surface of biological material at high resolution (2-3nm).Procedures based on chemical fixation and dehydration in graded solvent series seem inappropriate when aiming for TEM-like resolution. Cells inevitably shrink up to 30-70% of their initial volume during gehydration; important surface components e.g. glycoproteins may be lost. These problems may be circumvented by preparation techniques based on cryofixation. Freezedrying and freeze-substitution followed by critical point drying yields improved structural preservation in TEM. An appropriate preservation of dimensional integrity may be achieved by freeze-drying at - 85° C. The sample shrinks and may partially collapse as it is warmed to room temperature for subsequent SEM study. Observations at low temperatures are therefore a necessary prerequisite for high fidelity SEM. Compromises however have been unavoidable up until now. Aldehyde prefixation is frequently needed prior to freeze drying, rendering the sample resistant to treatment with distilled water.

Cosmetology treatments on human hair: An SEM study

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 940-941
Author(s):  
D.F. Bowling
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Human Hair ◽  
Optical Microscope ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Brightness Contrast ◽  
Sem Study

High school cosmetology students study the methods and effects of various human hair treatments, including permanents, straightening, conditioning, coloring and cutting. Although they are provided with textbook examples of overtreatment and numerous hair disorders and diseases, a view of an individual hair at the high resolution offered by an SEM provides convincing evidence of the hair‘s altered structure. Magnifications up to 2000X provide dramatic differences in perspective. A good quality classroom optical microscope can be very informative at lower resolutions.Students in a cosmetology class are initially split into two groups. One group is taught basic controls on the SEM (focus, magnification, brightness, contrast, specimen X, Y, and Z axis movements). A healthy, untreated piece of hair is initially examined on the SEM The second group cements a piece of their own hair on a stub. The samples are dryed quickly using heat or vacuum while the groups trade places and activities.

vitreal cells and specialized phagocytes in the chick embryo retina: A TEM and SEM study

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-331
Author(s):  
M.A. Cuadros ◽  
M.J. Martinez-Guerrero ◽  
A. Rios
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Acid Phosphatase ◽  
Chick Embryo ◽  
Basement Membrane ◽  
Sem Images ◽  
Intimate Contact ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Sem Study ◽  
Free Cells

In the chick embryo retina (days 3-4 of incubation), coinciding with an increase in cell death, specialized phagocytes characterized by intense acid phosphatase activity have been described. In these preparations, all free cells in the vitreal humor (vitreal cells) were strongly labeled. Conventional TEM and SEM techniques were used to characterize them and attempt to determine their relationship with retinal phagocytes.Two types of vitreal cells were distinguished. The first are located at some distance from the basement membrane of the neuroepithelium, and are rounded, with numerous vacuoles and thin cytoplasmic prolongations. Images of exo- and or endocytosis were frequent; the cells showed a well-developed Golgi apparatus (Fig. 1) In SEM images, the cells was covered with short cellular processes (Fig. 3). Cells lying parallel to or alongside the basement membrane are elongated. The plasma membrane is frequently in intimate contact with the basement membrane. These cells have generally a large cytoplasmic expansion (Fig. 5).

Imaging of Xenopus laevis Oocyte Plasma Membrane in Physiological-Like Conditions by Atomic Force Microscopy

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1358-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Santacroce ◽  
Federica Daniele ◽  
Andrea Cremona ◽  
Diletta Scaccabarozzi ◽  
Michela Castagna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Functional Study ◽  
Xenopus Laevis Oocyte ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Afm Imaging

AbstractXenopus laevis oocytes are an interesting model for the study of many developmental mechanisms because of their dimensions and the ease with which they can be manipulated. In addition, they are widely employed systems for the expression and functional study of heterologous proteins, which can be expressed with high efficiency on their plasma membrane. Here we applied atomic force microscopy (AFM) to the study of the plasma membrane of X. laevis oocytes. In particular, we developed and optimized a new sample preparation protocol, based on the purification of plasma membranes by ultracentrifugation on a sucrose gradient, to perform a high-resolution AFM imaging of X. laevis oocyte plasma membrane in physiological-like conditions. Reproducible AFM topographs allowed visualization and dimensional characterization of membrane patches, whose height corresponds to a single lipid bilayer, as well as the presence of nanometer structures embedded in the plasma membrane and identified as native membrane proteins. The described method appears to be an applicable tool for performing high-resolution AFM imaging of X. laevis oocyte plasma membrane in a physiological-like environment, thus opening promising perspectives for studying in situ cloned membrane proteins of relevant biomedical/pharmacological interest expressed in this biological system.

scholarly journals Sphingolipid Domains in the Plasma Membranes of Fibroblasts Are Not Enriched with Cholesterol

2013 ◽  
Vol 288 (23) ◽  
pp. 16855-16861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica F. Frisz ◽  
Haley A. Klitzing ◽  
Kaiyan Lou ◽  
Ian D. Hutcheon ◽  
Peter K. Weber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Cholesterol Depletion ◽  
Fibroblast Cells ◽  
Secondary Ion ◽  
Rule Out

The plasma membranes of mammalian cells are widely expected to contain domains that are enriched with cholesterol and sphingolipids. In this work, we have used high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry to directly map the distributions of isotope-labeled cholesterol and sphingolipids in the plasma membranes of intact fibroblast cells. Although acute cholesterol depletion reduced sphingolipid domain abundance, cholesterol was evenly distributed throughout the plasma membrane and was not enriched within the sphingolipid domains. Thus, we rule out favorable cholesterol-sphingolipid interactions as dictating plasma membrane organization in fibroblast cells. Because the sphingolipid domains are disrupted by drugs that depolymerize the cells actin cytoskeleton, cholesterol must instead affect the sphingolipid organization via an indirect mechanism that involves the cytoskeleton.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document