Novel contrasting and labeling procedures for correlative microscopy of thawed cryosections

Abstract

One of the major challenges for correlative microscopy is the preparation of the sample; the protocols for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fluorescence microscopy (FM) often prove to be incompatible. Here, we introduce 2+Staining: an improved contrasting procedure for Tokuyasu sections that yields both excellent positive membrane contrast in the TEM and bright fluorescence of the probe labeled on the section. 2+Staining involves the contrasting of the immunolabeled sections with 1% osmium tetroxide, 2% uranyl acetate and lead citrate in sequential steps, followed by embedding in 1.8% methyl cellulose. In addition, we demonstrate an amplification of the fluorescent signal by introducing additional antibody incubation steps to the immunolabeling procedure. The methods were validated using the integrated laser and electron microscope (iLEM), a novel tool for correlative microscopy combining FM and TEM in a single setup. The approaches were tested on HL-60 cells labeled for lysosomal-associated membrane protein 2 (LAMP-2) and on sections of muscle from a facioscapulohumeral dystrophy mouse model. Yielding excellent results and greatly expediting the workflow, the methods are of great value for those working in the field of correlative microscopy and indispensible for future users of integrated correlative microscopy.