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Ultrastructure of the freeze-dried mouse thyroid gland

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Summary

Mouse thyroids were preserved for electron microscopy by means of freeze-drying. The tissue specimens were frozen in liquid isopentane, dried at a temperature of −79° C to a pressure of 4×10-5 mm Hg, stained in vacuo with osmium tetroxide vapour at room temperature, and embedded in vacuo in Epon or Vestopal W.

The ultrastructure of the freeze-dried thyroid gland was found to be fundamentally similar to that observed after “ordinary” chemical fixation. However, some differences were noticed. Thus the plasma membrane of the lateral cell surfaces appeared to be asymmetrical, its inner dense layer being thicker than the outer one. The mitochondria had a finely undulating contour and a matrix of rather high density. The mitochondrial outer and inner membranes appeared as five-layered structures and comprised three dense and two less dense layers. Small dense granules with an undulating outline and larger, less dense granules with a distinct surface membrane were observed. The intra-cisternal space had a lower density than the extra-cisternal space. 150 Å particles occurred very sparsely. The karyoplasm had a low density and the particulate component of the nucleus was rather scanty. By means of pores in the nuclear envelope the karyoplasm appeared to communicate with the extra-cisternal space. No basement membranes were observed. The appearance of myelin sheaths in freeze-dried specimens seemed to agree well with the picture after chemical fixation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

    R. Ekholm, H. F. Helander & T. Zelander

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  1. R. Ekholm
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  2. H. F. Helander
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  3. T. Zelander
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Ekholm, R., Helander, H.F. & Zelander, T. Ultrastructure of the freeze-dried mouse thyroid gland. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 59, 467–478 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00368721

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