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Physics of Water and Ice: Implications for Cryofixation

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Cryotechniques in Biological Electron Microscopy

Abstract

Cryotechniques in biological electron microscopy have one aspect in common: the use of low temperatures to stabilize or “fix” ultrastructure as it exists under physiological conditions. Ideal fixation and specimen preparation require that the constituents of the system keep their position within a range which is smaller than the resolution of the observation technique. The molecules and ions within a biological specimen interact in very complex ways. The kind of interaction depends strongly on temperature. What type of arrangement or structure is stable at a given temperature is determined by the laws of thermodynamics which state that any system tends towards a state of minimal free energy. The rate at which a system follows this tendency is determined by kinetics. The rearrangement or movement of molecules which is necessary to adapt a system to a change in temperature is usually an activated process, meaning that the molecules involved need excess energy (activation energy) in order to be able to change their positions. This “activation energy” is released after the event has taken place. Molecules which are not at the activated energy level will not react, although the reaction would result in a gain of stability. The pool out of which the activation energy is taken is the thermal energy of the system. Thus, the probability that a molecule is activated in a given time increases with temperature. As a result, a change of temperature has a dual influence on a specimen: it determines the equilibrium or stable structure at the new temperature and also the speed or rate at which the system adjusts to the new equilibrium state.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Technische Chemie, Technische Universität München, D-8000, München, Germany

    Luis Bachmann

  2. Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Universität Innsbruck, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Erwin Mayer

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  1. Luis Bachmann
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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie, D-8131, Seewiesen, Germany

    Rudolf Alexander Steinbrecht

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Systemphysiologie, Rheinlanddamm 201, D-4600, Dortmund, Germany

    Karl Zierold

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Bachmann, L., Mayer, E. (1987). Physics of Water and Ice: Implications for Cryofixation. In: Steinbrecht, R.A., Zierold, K. (eds) Cryotechniques in Biological Electron Microscopy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-72815-0_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-72815-0_1

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