Microtrabecular lattice of the cytoplasmic ground substance. Artifact or reality

The cytoplasmic ground substance of cultured cells prepared for high voltage transmission electron microscopy (glutaraldehyde/osmium fixed, alcohol or acetone dehydrated, critical-point dried) consists of slender (3-6 nm Diam) strands--the microtrabeculae (55)--that form an irregular three-dimensional lattice (the microtrabecular lattice). The microtrabeculae interconnect the membranous and nonmembranous organelles and are confluent with the cortices of the cytoplast. The lattice is found in all portions of the cytoplast of all cultured cells examined. The possibility that the lattice structure is an artifact of specimen preparation has been tested by (a) subjecting whole cultured cells (WI-38, NRK, chick embryo fibroblasts) to various chemical (aldehydes, osmium tetroxide) and nonchemical (freezing) fixation schedules, (b) examination of model systems (erythrocytes, protein solutions), (c) substantiating the relaibility of critical-point drying, and (d) comparing images of whole cells with conventionally prepared (plastic-embedded) cells. The lattice structure is preserved by chemical and nonchemical fixation, though alterations in ultrastructure can occur especially after prolonged exposure to osmium tetroxide. The critical-point method for drying specimens appears to be reliable as is the freeze-drying method. The discrepancies between images of plastic-embedded and sectioned cells, and images of whole, critical-point dried cells appear to be related, in part, to the electron-scattering properties of the embedding resin. The described observations indicate that the microtrabecular lattice seen in electron micrographs closely represents the nonrandom structure of the cytoplasmic ground substance of living cultured cells.