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Frozen‐surface replicas of rat bladder luminal membrane
Author(s) -
Severs N. J.,
Hicks R. M.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1977.tb00052.x
Subject(s) - liquid nitrogen , glutaraldehyde , membrane , boiling point , distilled water , materials science , boiling , biomedical engineering , composite material , anatomy , chemistry , chromatography , biology , biochemistry , medicine , organic chemistry
SUMMARY A method for preparing replicas of the luminal surface of frozen, unfractured but deep‐etched whole bladder tissue using a Bullivant type II device is described. A small piece of glutaraldehyde‐fixed (uncryoprotected) rat bladder is rinsed in distilled water, mounted luminal side uppermost on a specimen holder and rapidly frozen by immersion in liquid nitrogen (cooled below its boiling point in a vacuum) or by contact with a copper block at liquid nitrogen temperature. The specimen is processed in the type II device without fracturing and ‘deep‐etched’ by allowing a longer period than usual to elapse before shadowing. The results are assessed with reference to the appearance of the luminal membrane in standard freeze‐fracture replicas, and some preliminary observations on the structure of the normal luminal membrane and its counterpart in bladder tumours are presented.