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Retention of Calcium and Other Ions for Microanalysis by Freeze-Drying

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Keith P. Ryan  and
Lorraine S. Berry
Keith P. Ryan
Affiliation:
Marine Biological Association of the UK, Devon, UK Department of Biology, University of Plymouth, Devon, UK
Lorraine S. Berry
Affiliation:
Marine Biological Association of the UK, Devon, UK

Extract

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Calcium (Ca++) and other diffusible ions cannot be preserved for x-ray microanalysis if specimens have been preserved by fixation using formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde or other fixatives. Atoms, such as Ca, are not diffusible when they are bound to something insoluble, such as bone or hard granules in cells which are sometimes mechanisms for detoxifying. Ions, loosely bound elements and other components such as sugars and amino acids are leached out during chemical fixation and dehydration by solvents. This problem was recognized over a hundred years ago by Richard Altmann. An alternative to wet chemical processing is the purely physical method that involves rapidly freezing the specimen and then removing the frozen water by the process of freeze drying, which is the subject of this article.

Type
Research Article
Information
Microscopy Today , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , April 2000 , pp. 14 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2000

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