The size, shape and surface morphology of human erythrocytes (RBC) were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), of the fixed material directly and by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of surface replicas to compare the relative merits of these two observational procedures for this type specimen.A sample of human blood was fixed in glutaraldehyde and washed in distilled water by centrifugation. The washed RBC's were spread on freshly cleaved mica and on aluminum coated microscope slides and then air dried at room temperature. The SEM specimens were rotary coated with 150Å of 60:40- gold:palladium alloy in a vacuum evaporator using a new combination spinning and tilting device. The TEM specimens were preshadowed with platinum and then rotary coated with carbon in the same device. After stripping the RBC-Pt-C composite film, the RBC's were dissolved in 2.5N HNO3 followed by 0.2N NaOH leaving the preshadowed surface replicas showing positive topography.
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither M United States nor the United States Atomic Energy jmission, nor any of their employees, nor any of I contractors, subcontractors, or theu' employees, es any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.