Chem­i­cal Fix­a­tion

Although struc­tural details of the cytoskele­ton can be revealed by elec­tron microscopy there are lim­i­ta­tions that must be con­sid­ered. Since sam­ples in the elec­tron micro­scope must be viewed in a vac­uum we must immo­bilise them by chem­i­cal fix­a­tion or freez­ing before elec­tron microscopy. For opti­mal visu­al­iza­tion of the cytoskele­ton, the cell mem­brane, organelles and sol­u­ble com­po­nents of the cyto­plasm are pref­er­en­tially removed to expose it. This is best achieved by adding a deter­gent to the fix­a­tion mix­ture. Details of the pro­ce­dures we use are pre­sented in Auinger and Small (2008).

Related Pub­li­ca­tions

  • Auinger S., Small, J.V. (2008). Cor­re­lated light and elec­tron microscopy of the cytoskele­ton. Meth­ods Cell Biol. 257–272. PDF