Volume 230, Issue 2 p. 167-171

Compression and crevasses in vitreous sections under different cutting conditions

H.-M. HAN

H.-M. HAN

Laboratoire d'Analyse Ultrastructurale, Bâtiment de Biologie, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Biophysics Department, Health Science Center, Peking University, 100083 Beijing, China

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B. ZUBER

Corresponding Author

B. ZUBER

Laboratoire d'Analyse Ultrastructurale, Bâtiment de Biologie, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Hong-Mei Han. Tel: 468 524 87 658; fax: 468 313 529; e-mail: [email protected]

Present address: MRC Laboratory of Molecular biology, University Postgraduate, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH, United Kingdom

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J. DUBOCHET

J. DUBOCHET

Laboratoire d'Analyse Ultrastructurale, Bâtiment de Biologie, Université de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

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First published: 25 April 2008
Citations: 40

Summary

Compression and crevasses are common cutting artefacts in cryo-ultramicrotomy of vitreous sections. They can be reduced or suppressed under optimal cutting conditions. In the present study, compression and thickness were measured for different cutting speeds and knife angles. It was found that compression decreased with feed and that crevasses appeared only above a certain thickness. The optimal feed for vitreous sections was between 50 and 80 nm. The thickness, calculated by two independent methods, was quantitatively related to feed and compression.

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