Introduction

The invention responds to the need to observe under transmission electron microscope (TEM) the cell morphology just observed at the inverted light microscope. The device allows to culture the cells on the same support that will be used for subsequent microscopic analysis. This allows to obtain top quality images at high magnification and high resolution without altering the cell morphology under examination.

Technical features

One of the methods used to observe the cells culture in TEM implies the use of chemical, enzymatic and/or mechanical treatments to detach the cells from the plastic of the culture plate. These approaches result in the loss of both the specific area of interest observed under light microscope and the specific morphological aspects assumed by the cells as a consequence of eventual experimental treatments.

The patented system is a plate with removable bottom consisting of multiple wells.  The plate enables the cells cultivation in vitro and in sterility, and the processing and inclusion of the cells in resin for further TEM analysis directly on the same plate. After resin polymerization and removal of the culture well’s bottom the embedded cellular sample is immediately ready to be cut into observable sections.

Possible Applications

• Ultrastructural analysis of cells by TEM;
• Definition of the cell phenotype;
• Visualization of the co-expression of different antigens using appropriate labeling methods;
• Correlation studies between light microscopy and TEM;
• Study of cell-microrganism interactions.

Advantages

• Possibility to observe the same cells with different microscopic systems;
• Possibility to conduct in vitro cell culture, processing and resin embedding on the same culture plate;
• Suitable size of resin-cells blocks for TEM analysis;
• Preservation the ultrastructural details of the cells and their morphology.