[Detection of the intercellular borders of the endothelium using scanning electron microscopy]

Three different approaches for studying aorta endothelial cells by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were compared to expose cell border lines and surface shape simultaneously. Staining of aorta probes with silver nitrate leads to more specific silver deposits at cell junctions, but unsatisfactory image resolution obscures any detail of cell junctions and other fine structural features. Endothelium impregnated with tannin-osmium showed enhanced cell junction detail, but this method resulted in formation of presumably artificial structures. Osmium tetraoxide was most optimal for impregnation of aorta probes, as it exposed well cell border lines, excluded artifacts of tannin-osmium staining, provided a good image resolution in SEM, and allowed to analyse the ultrastructural features of cell surface.