VISUALISATION OF A PROTEIN DISTRIBUTION BY USING THE FREEZE-ETCHING METHOD
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| Year of publication | 2011 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | The freeze-etching is one of cryo-methods, which is used to visualize the membrane structure of the cells. In general, this method provides information about the protrusions of the cell membrane or the undulation of surface of the plasma membrane, but by the processing of samples it is very common to achieve fracturing through the organelles inside the cells, i.e. mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum or nuclear envelope with nuclear pores. As the membranes are usually fractured on their protoplasmic or exoplasmic face, it is possible to observe the trans-membrane or intra-membrane proteins without the need of specific labelling. The replica of membranes is 25 nm thick, and is formed by a thin layer of platinum and carbon. The distribution of proteins on the membrane, changes of the proteins concentration caused by various physical or chemical factors, number of nuclear pores in the nuclear envelope, and changes in their distribution due to cell cycle or apoptosis can be quantitatively evaluated after an image analysis. |
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