Formaldehyde as a Fixative for Light and Electron Microscopy

Permanganate—A New Fixative for Electron Microscopy

During the early phases of tissue sectioning for electron microscopy, virtually all of the standard cytological fixatives were tried. Of these, osmium tetroxide appeared to give the best preservation, and this was further improved by buffering the fixative solution at a slightly alkaline pH (Palade (1)). A variant developed by Dalton (2) contains Os04 in a chromate-dichromate system. Formalin h...

Appendix for Glyoxal as an alternative fixative to formaldehyde in immunostaining and super-resolution microscopy

Glyoxal as an alternative fixative to formaldehyde in immunostaining and super-resolution microscopy Katharina N. Richter, Natalia H. Revelo, Katharina J. Seitz, Martin S. Helm, Deblina Sarkar, Rebecca S. Saleeb, Elisa D’Este, Jessica Eberle, Eva Wagner, Christian Vogl, Diana F. Lazaro, Frank Richter, Javier Coy-Vergara, Giovanna Coceano, Edward S Boyden, Rory R. Duncan, Stefan W. Hell, Marcel ...

Glyoxal as an alternative fixative to formaldehyde in immunostaining and super‐resolution microscopy

Paraformaldehyde (PFA) is the most commonly used fixative for immunostaining of cells, but has been associated with various problems, ranging from loss of antigenicity to changes in morphology during fixation. We show here that the small dialdehyde glyoxal can successfully replace PFA Despite being less toxic than PFA, and, as most aldehydes, likely usable as a fixative, glyoxal has not yet bee...

microscopy and analysis Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy

Electron Microscopy of the Sperm Tail Results Obtained with a New Fixative

The details of a new fixation procedure using 40 per cent osmium tetroxide in carbon tetrachloride are presented. This fixative is a good general preservative, gives a higher contrast than the ordinary osmium fixatives, and may also preserve structures that are not otherwise readily revealed. Some possible reasons for the increased contrast are discussed. Micrographs of the sea urchin spermatoz...