THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THICK BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS BY HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Abstract

Thick biological specimens prepared as whole mount cultured cells or thick sections from embedded tissues were stained with histochemical reactions, such as thiamine pyrophosphatase, glucose-6-phosphatase, cytochrome oxidase, acid phosphatase, DAB reactions and radioautography, to observe 3-D ultrastructures of cell organelles producing stereo-pairs by high voltage electron microscopy at accerelating voltages of 400-1000 kV. The organelles demonstrated were Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, lysosomes, peroxisomes, pinocytotic vesicles and incorporations of radioactive compounds. As the results, those cell organelles were observed 3- dimensionally and the relative relationships between these organelles were demonstrated.

Keywords

• 3-D observation
• cell organelles
• high voltage electron microscopy
• histochemistry
• thick specimens