Improved Electron Microscopy Fixation Methods for Tracking Autophagy-Associated Membranes in Cultured Mammalian Cells. 2019

Ritsuko Arai, and Satoshi Waguri
Department of Anatomy and Histology, Fukushima Medical University, School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.

Autophagy-related organelles, including omegasomes, isolation membranes (or phagophores), autophagosomes, and autolysosomes, are characterized by dynamic changes in lipid membranes including morphology as well as their associated proteins. Therefore, it is critical to define and track membranous elements for identification and detailed morphological analyses of these organelles. However, it is often difficult to clearly observe these organelles with good morphology in conventional electron microscopy (EM), thus hampering 3D analyses and correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM). Here, we focus on describing fixation procedures using (1) ferrocyanide-reduced osmium for CLEM and (2) aldehyde/OsO4 mixture for detecting omegasome structures and isolation membrane-associated tubules (IMATs). These methods can be easily applied to cultured mammalian cells for conventional and cutting-edge EM analyses, leading to a better understanding of ultrastructural details in autophagosome formation.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007202 Indicators and Reagents Substances used for the detection, identification, analysis, etc. of chemical, biological, or pathologic processes or conditions. Indicators are substances that change in physical appearance, e.g., color, at or approaching the endpoint of a chemical titration, e.g., on the passage between acidity and alkalinity. Reagents are substances used for the detection or determination of another substance by chemical or microscopical means, especially analysis. Types of reagents are precipitants, solvents, oxidizers, reducers, fluxes, and colorimetric reagents. (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed, p301, p499) Indicator,Reagent,Reagents,Indicators,Reagents and Indicators
D008854 Microscopy, Electron Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen. Electron Microscopy
D009992 Osmium A very hard, gray, toxic, and nearly infusible metal element, atomic number 76, atomic weight 190.2, symbol Os.
D009993 Osmium Tetroxide (T-4)-Osmium oxide (OsO4). A highly toxic and volatile oxide of osmium used in industry as an oxidizing agent. It is also used as a histological fixative and stain and as a synovectomy agent in arthritic joints. Its vapor can cause eye, skin, and lung damage. Osmic Acid,Acid, Osmic,Tetroxide, Osmium
D010084 Oxidation-Reduction A chemical reaction in which an electron is transferred from one molecule to another. The electron-donating molecule is the reducing agent or reductant; the electron-accepting molecule is the oxidizing agent or oxidant. Reducing and oxidizing agents function as conjugate reductant-oxidant pairs or redox pairs (Lehninger, Principles of Biochemistry, 1982, p471). Redox,Oxidation Reduction
D002460 Cell Line Established cell cultures that have the potential to propagate indefinitely. Cell Lines,Line, Cell,Lines, Cell
D005295 Ferrocyanides Inorganic salts of the hypothetical acid ferrocyanic acid (H4Fe(CN)6).
D005347 Fibroblasts Connective tissue cells which secrete an extracellular matrix rich in collagen and other macromolecules. Fibroblast
D000071182 Autophagosomes Large spherical double-layered structures which function in AUTOPHAGY to engulf intracellular components such as ORGANELLES or pathogens. Their outer membrane then fuses with the LYSOSOME (forming the AUTOLYSOSOME) and the inner membrane and contents are digested by lysosomal HYDROLASES. Phagophores,Autophagosome,Phagophore
D000447 Aldehydes Organic compounds containing a carbonyl group in the form -CHO. Aldehyde

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