Specific, sensitive, high-resolution detection of protein molecules in eukaryotic cells using metal-tagging transmission electron microscopy.

More than any other methodology, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has contributed to our understanding of the architecture and organization of cells. With current detection limits approaching atomic resolution, it will ultimately become possible to ultrastructurally image intracellular macromolecular assemblies in situ. Presently, however, methods to unambiguously identify proteins within the crowded environment of the cell's interior are lagging behind.

Ultrastructural evidence of dermal gadolinium deposits in a patient with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and end-stage renal disease.

Background And Objectives: The pathogenesis of acquired nephrogenic systemic fibrosis recently described for patients with renal insufficiency and a history of exposition to gadolinium-based magnetic resonance contrast agents is not completely understood. A role for circulating fibroblasts in the fibrosing tissue is hypothetical, and the mechanism of the assumed trigger function of gadolinium remains elusive.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: A skin lesion on a 76-yr-old man with symptoms of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis lasting 5 mo was studied at the ultrastructural level.