A simple and direct pre-embedding technique for ultrastructure of scarce biological specimens.

A simple and rapid technique for pre-embedding scarce biological specimens for Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is reported. It is based on pre-embedding biological samples in bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bis-acrylamide (BA), cross-linked and polymerized with paraformaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, ammonium persulfate and Temed. Pre-embedding in BSA and BA offers several advantages over traditional pre-embedding techniques for TEM including the ability to visualize the sample and a more resistant matrix.