The ability to isolate and perform nucleic acid analyses of individual cells is critical to studying the development of various cell types and structures. We present a novel biological sample preparation method developed for laser capture microdissection-assisted nucleic acid analysis of ultrathin cell/tissue sections. We used cells of the mitotic bed of the tadpole teeth of Lithobates sphenocephalus (Southern Leopard Frog). Cells from the mitotic beds at the base of the developing teeth series were isolated and embedded in the methacrylate resin, Technovit® 9100®. Intact cells of the mitotic beds were thin sectioned and examined by bright-field and transmission electron microscopy. The cytological and ultrastructural anatomy of the immature and progressively more mature tooth primordia appeared well preserved and intact. A developmental series of tooth primordia were isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM). Processing of these cells for RNA showed that intact RNA could be isolated. The study demonstrates that Technovit® 9100® can be used as an embedding medium for extremely small tissues and from individual cells, a prerequisite step to LCM and nucleic acid analyses. A relatively small amount of sample material was needed for the analysis, which makes this technique ideal for cell-specific analyses when the desired cells are limited in quantity.

Laser capture microdissection uses a microscope to identify specific cells for microdissection and then a laser-sensitive plastic to capture and remove the cells from their substrate. This efficient capture method was originally developed to capture cells for genetic analysis. However, it has also been used to capture cells for proteonomic analysis. In this article, we extend the uses of laser-capture microdissection by reporting a method for preparing captured cells for ultrastructural analysis by transmission electron microscopy. Cells prepared by our methodology show good fine structure preservation and are easily sectioned by standard ultramicrotomy.