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Updated: Sep 23, 2025

Variations on Negative Stain Electron Microscopy Methods: Tools for Tackling Challenging Systems
Published on: February 6, 2018
Novel electron microscopic staining method using traditional dye, hematoxylin
Hiroyuki Sasaki1, Hisako Arai2, Emi Kikuchi2
1Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tokyo Professional University of Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan. h-sasaki@tpu.ac.jp.
Abstract:
Uranyl acetate (UA) has been routinely used as a staining solution for ultrathin sections used in biological electron microscopy. As a radioactive nuclear material, UA is subject to strict international regulations. To develop an alternative and easy-to-use staining method for ultrathin sections, we examined various commercial light microscopic dyes. We found that Mayer's hematoxylin followed by Reynold's lead citrate solution showed staining results comparable to UA and Reynold's lead citrate solution, and this method is therefore suggested as a reliable and promising alternative to UA staining.
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