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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Graphene Enclosure of Chemically Fixed Mammalian Cells for Liquid-Phase Electron Microscopy
Published on: September 21, 2020
Electron microscopy of whole cells in liquid with nanometer resolution
N de Jonge1, D B Peckys, G J Kremers
1Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-0615, USA. niels.de.jonge@vanderbilt.edu
Abstract:
Single gold-tagged epidermal growth factor (EGF) molecules bound to cellular EGF receptors of fixed fibroblast cells were imaged in liquid with a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The cells were placed in buffer solution in a microfluidic device with electron transparent windows inside the vacuum of the electron microscope. A spatial resolution of 4 nm and a pixel dwell time of 20 micros were obtained. The liquid layer was sufficiently thick to contain the cells with a thickness of 7 +/- 1 microm. The experimental findings are consistent with a theoretical calculation. Liquid STEM is a unique approach for imaging single molecules in whole cells with significantly improved resolution and imaging speed over existing methods.
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