Each molecule of ferritin (d = 130Å) contains a core of iron surrounded by a 24-subunit protein shell. The amount of iron stored is variable and is present within the central cavity (d = 80Å) as a hydrated ferric oxide equivalent to the mineral, ferrihydrite. Many early ultrastructural studies of ferritin detected regular patterns of a multiparticulate substructure in the iron-rich core [e.g., 3,4], Each small particle was termed a “micelle“; a theory became widely accepted that a core consisted of up to six micelles positioned at the vertices of an octahedron. Other workers recognized that the apparent micelles were smaller or even disappeared if images were recorded closer to exact focus [e.g., 5]. In 1969, Haydon clearly established that the observed substructure was really an imaging artifact; each apparent micelle was only a dot in the underfocused phase contrast image of the supporting film superimposed on the amplitude image of the strongly scattering metal.
Type A aortic dissection mimicking saddle pulmonary embolism on CT imaging
