Freeze-dried and resin-embedded biological material is well suited for ultrastructure research

Transmission electron micrographs of different biological material, cryofixed, freeze-dried and embedded in Spurr's resin, in Epon, or in Lowicryl, are presented. The structure preservation obtained either without or with application of chemical fixatives after drying showed that freeze-dried embedded specimens are particularly well suited for new morphological, immunocytochemical and microanalytical studies aimed at detecting the life-like subcellular distribution of mobile macromolecules and ions. The results also indicate that the removal of cell water by freeze-drying from the areas of best cryofixation is relatively slow. Ultrathin sections of well cryofixed biological material embedded after freeze-drying in Spurr's resin or Epon reveal cellular plasma phases with very fine granularities and well defined membranes in negative contrast. This may be due to the preservation of the original structure of cellular macromolecules with a considerable amount of their hydration water. Sublimation studies with differently hydrated and cryofixed macromolecules are suggested to settle this issue.