Low-voltage transmission electron microscopy reveals SV40 viral particles within secretory granules in pancreatic cells

Diagnostic Electron Microscopy of Viruses With Low-voltage Electron Microscopes

Diagnostic electron microscopy is a useful technique for the identification of viruses associated with human, animal, or plant diseases. The size of virus structures requires a high optical resolution (i.e., about 1 nm), which, for a long time, was only provided by transmission electron microscopes operated at 60 kV and above. During the last decade, low-voltage electron microscopy has been improved and potentially provides an alternative to the use of high-voltage electron microscopy for diagnostic electron microscopy of viruses. Therefore, we have compared the imaging capabilities of three low-voltage electron microscopes, a scanning electron microscope equipped with a scanning transmission detector and two low-voltage transmission electron microscopes, operated at 25 kV, with the imaging capabilities of a high-voltage transmission electron microscope using different viruses in samples prepared by negative staining and ultrathin sectioning. All of the microscopes provided sufficient optical resolution for a recognition of the viruses tested. In ultrathin sections, ultrastructural details of virus genesis could be revealed. Speed of imaging was fast enough to allow rapid screening of diagnostic samples at a reasonable throughput. In summary, the results suggest that low-voltage microscopes are a suitable alternative to high-voltage transmission electron microscopes for diagnostic electron microscopy of viruses.

Perspectives on low voltage transmission electron microscopy as applied to cell biology

Low voltage transmission electron microscopy (LVTEM) with accelerating voltages as low as 5 kV was applied to cell biology. To take advantage of the increased contrast given by LVTEM, tissue preparation was modified omitting all heavy metals such as osmium, uranium, and lead from the fixation, on block staining and counterstaining. Nonstained ultra-thin tissue sections (40 nm thick) generated highly contrasted images. While the aspect of the cells remains similar to that obtained by conventional TEM, some new substructures were revealed. The pancreatic acinar cells granules present a heterogeneous matrix with partitions corresponding to segregation of their different secretory proteins. Microvilli display their core of microfilaments anchored to the dense top membrane. Mitochondria revealed the presence of distinct particles along their cristea membranes that may correspond to the ATP synthase complexes or oxysomes. The dense nuclear chromatin displays a honey-comb appearance while distinct beads aligned along thin threads were seen in the dispersed chromatin. These new features revealed by LVTEM correlate with structures described or predicted through other approaches. Masking effects due to thickness of the tissue sections and to the presence of heavy metals must have prevented their observation by conventional TEM. Furthermore, the immunogold was adapted to LVTEM revealing nuclear lamin-A at the edge of the dense chromatin ribbons. Combining cytochemistry with LVTEM brings additional advantages to this new approach in cell biology.

Compartmentalization of pancreatic secretory zymogen granules as revealed by low-voltage transmission electron microscopy

Low-voltage (5-kV) transmission electron microscopy revealed a novel aspect of the pancreatic acinar cell secretory granules not previously detected by conventional (80-kV) transmission electron microscopy. Examination of ultra-thin (30-nm) sections of non-osmicated, stain-free pancreatic tissue sections by low-voltage electron microscopy revealed the existence of granules with non-homogeneous matrix and sub-compartments having circular or oval profiles of different electron densities and sizes. Such partition is completely masked when observing tissues after postfixation with osmium tetroxide by low-voltage transmission electron microscopy at 5 kV and/or when thicker sections (70 nm) are examined at 80 kV. This morphological partition reflects an internal compartmentalization of the granule content that was previously predicted by morphological, physiological, and biochemical means. It corresponds to the segregation of the different secretory proteins inside the granule as demonstrated by high-resolution immunocytochemistry and reflects a well-organized aggregation of the secretory proteins at the time of granule formation in the trans-Golgi. Such partition of the granule matrix undergoes changes under experimental conditions known to alter the secretory process such as stimulation of secretion or diabetes.