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Lipid staining for the electron microscope: a new method.

V B Wigglesworth
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Abstract

Tissues fixed in osmium tetroxide or in combined osmium and glutaraldehyde (Hinde), embedded in Spurr's medium, cut at 0-5-I mum and mounted in Farrants' gum medium containing ethyl gallate, show good staining of lipid-contaning structures (droplets of triglyceride, membranes, mitochondria, etc.) in the light microscope. Such preparations show moderate contrast in the electron microscope without further staining. But a specific increase in contrast in lipid-rich structures is obtained by partition of the tissues, before embedding, in 70% ethanol saturated with the monoterpene hydrocarbon myrcene, with or without the addition of 0-I % ethyl gallate, followed by osmium tetroxide. This method will visualize both saturated and unsaturated lipids, including waxes.

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AnimalsCell MembraneCholesterolEndoplasmic ReticulumGlutaralGolgi ApparatusLipidsMicroscopy, ElectronMicrotubulesMitochondriaOsmiumPhosphatidylethanolaminesRhodniusSphingomyelinsStaining and LabelingStearic AcidsTriatominaeWaxesJournal Article

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V B Wigglesworth. 1975. Lipid staining for the electron microscope: a new method.. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.19.3.425

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