Microscopy and Microanalysis | 2021
What do we know about stain distribution in cells and tissue? Using EDS to determine the quantity and distribution of common EM stains.
Abstract
Heavy metal stains are commonly used when preparing biological electron microscopy samples to contrast structures of interest. There are a huge variety of stains that have been used and many publications have gone into detail about how to apply the stains and their binding affinities in different sample types [1]. Research into chemical fixation protocols and the applications of stains fell out of favour with the rise of cryofixation and cryo-imaging techniques. However, in recent years volume electron microscopy has seen a resurgence in the need for general and specific stains [2, 3] to improve visualisation of cell structure and improve the ability of researchers and computer algorithms to segment and reconstruct those structures in 3D.