Silver Staining of Ultrathin Sections of Tissues Embedded in Polyester Resin

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Abstract
Specimens 1 mm3 from rat liver and kidney were fixed for 50 min in cold (0-2° C) 1% OsO4 in veronal-acetate buffer, pH 7.7, and containing 0.1% MgCl2; then dehydrated and embedded in Vestopal-W. Sections were cut in two ranges, 0.1-2 µ and 60-90 mµ thick, and attached to slides by floating on water and drying at 60° C. The thicker ones, for light microscopy, were soaked in acetone 1.5-3 hr; the thinner, for electron microscopy, 20-30 min. Both kinds were stained by Wilder's (1935) method for reticulum. Those for light microscopy were finished by dehydrating, clearing and covering in the customary manner; those for electron microscopy, by coating with 1% parlodion, drying, cutting the film about 2 mm2 around the section, and freeing the section by soaking in water. The section was then mounted on a grid. The structures stained are: nuclei, basement membrane of capillaries, reticulum fibers of the liver and kidney, and in addition, the basement membrane of the kidney tubules. The mitochondria, vesicles, endoplasmic reticulum and cell membranes were not defined.

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