Lead aspartate: a new en bloc stain for electron microscopy
Lead aspartate has several advantages over lead citrate in that it can be used to stain tissues en bloc, prior to dehydration and embedding, and it is used at neutral pH. The high alkalinity required by lead citrate (pH 12) tends to leach out enzyme reaction products, making its use unsuitable for many cytochemical experiments. Lead aspartate staining is qualitatively similar to that by lead citrate but it is somewhat less intense. The resulting contrast is adequate for most electron microscopic study but, if desired, intensity can be increased by conventional grid counterstaining. The major advantages of lead aspartate stain are: en bloc staining is convenient and relatively contamination-free, it often permits bypass of the grid-staining step, and it can be used in conjunction with most cytochemical stains without obviously altering reaction products.
- Research Organization:
- California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6641573
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-80753; CONF-780818-2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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