The use of osmicated tissues for Lowicryl K4M embedding

Tissue chopper slices of rat incisor, rat parotid gland, and chicken tibiae, fixed with 1% glutaraldehyde, were post-fixed with potassium ferrocyanide-reduced osmium tetroxide, dehydrated with methanol, and conventionally embedded in Lowicryl K4M at -20 degrees C. The tissues showed an ultrastructural appearance comparable with that of their Epon-embedded counterparts and, in particular, the Golgi apparatus was well defined. Furthermore, Lowicryl K4M-embedded osmicated tissues permitted both post-embedding lectin-gold cytochemistry and immunogold labeling.