The technique of osmium tetroxide fixation followed by a treatment with p-phenylenediamine was applied to mouse testes in order to analyze pachytene nuclei. Observation of Epon semithin sections (0.25--0.5 micrometer) in conventional electron microscopy revealed the presence of positively stained synaptonemal complexes surrounded by unstained chromatin. The present results show that by using th...

Semithin sections are commonly used to examine large areas of tissue with an optical microscope, in order to locate and trim the regions that will later be studied with the electron microscope. Ideally, the observation of semithin sections would be from mesoscopic to nanoscopic scales directly, instead of using light microscopy and then electron microscopy (EM). Here we propose a method that ma...

A method for osmicating, dehydrating, and flat-embedding large slabs of brain tissue in epoxy resin is presented. This permits the production of semithin sections for postembedding immunocytochemistry that are far larger than can be obtained with other embedding approaches. Vibratomed slabs, 50-200 microns thick and as large as 6 x 8 mm are embedded in a 'soft' Araldite epoxy. The slabs are lam...

Immunostaining of semithin sections is a valuable tool in biomedical research; however, this method is rather rarely used by histologists. To overcome the apparent reservations concerning this method, the present report describes a technique which is rather simple, largely standardized, and very useful in investigative endocrinology. The technique includes the following steps: snap-freezing and...

In the present work, coexpression of vimentin (VIM) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is demonstrated in the glial cells of the adult rat pineal gland. Serial consecutive Epon semithin sections (0.5 microns thick) were alternately immunostained for VIM and GFAP. GFAP positive cells and processes were found in the proximal region of the pineal gland, near the pineal stalk. Most of these...

Improved methods are described for anatomical investigation of small insects and other arthropods using serial semithin sections. The specimens were dehydrated with acidified 2,2-dimethoxypropane and embedded in ERL 4206 epoxy resin under vacuum. This procedure ensures good resin impregnation of thin, long body compartments and appendages. Furthermore, it produces excellent overall preservation...

OBJECTIVES PNS is involved in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) since the earliest phases. Our aim is to perform an ultrastructural study on skin PNS fibers in SSc. METHODS Skin biopsies were taken from forearms of 8 patients affected by limited SSc (lSSc) and 3 controls and processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The semithin sections (2 mm) were observed at light microscope and optical...