Flash and Freeze-fracture explained (IMAGE)

Institute of Science and Technology Austria

Flash and Freeze-fracture explained

Caption

Flash and Freeze-fracture. (1) A flash of light stimulates neurons in a brain sample, which is followed by immediate freezing of the tissue. (2) The frozen brain tissue is broken/fractured and undergoes carbon/platinum evaporation. The carbon layer acts as a plaster print of the fractured surface, and the platinum adds a shadowing effect to better see 3D surface structures in the electron microscope. (3) Proteins in the brain tissue are labeled and visualized with gold particles, using an electron microscope.

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© Koppensteiner et al./PNAS

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