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Freeze-fracture immunogold labeling

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Abstract

Several approaches have been developed to combine immunogold cytochemistry and freeze-fracture techniques. These methods are highly heterogeneous regarding both the sequence of the procedural steps and the aspect of the resulting images. They imply immunolabeling either before or after freeze-fracture or even immunolabeling of platinum/carbon replicas of the freeze-fractured membranes, and have been used alternatively or in parallel to address different questions related to cell membrane structure, composition and dynamics or to intracellular membrane traffic. This review will briefly describe these methods and report most of their immunogold cytochemical applications, with the aim of facilitating selection of the most appropriate approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Viale Regina Elena, 324, I-00161, Rome, Italy

    Maria Rosaria Torrisi & Patrizia Mancini

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  1. Maria Rosaria Torrisi
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  2. Patrizia Mancini
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Correspondence to Maria Rosaria Torrisi.

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Torrisi, M.R., Mancini, P. Freeze-fracture immunogold labeling. Histochem Cell Biol 106, 19–30 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02473199

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