Quantitative Aspects of Immunogold Labeling in Embedded and Nonembedded Sections

A new challenge facing electron microscopists in the early 1980s was to combine their experience, taste, and knowledge of the cell ultrastructure with the newly developed antibodies (1 ) in order to expand morphology into biochemistry and “to bridge the gulf between the so called sciences of matter and science of form” (2 ). The preparation of samples for conventional electron microscopy is harsh. The infiltration of the samples with Epon or Araldite resins after the aldehyde fixation, the osmium postfixation, and the dehydration with ethanol and propylene oxide do not allow antigenicity to be preserved (except in some rare cases). New, softer methods for preserving some antigenicity along with a reasonable morphology were developed, allowing visualization of antigens (mainly proteins) on sections.