Light and electron microscopic structure of Golgi-stained neurons in the vertebrate brain (new rapid Golgi procedure)

After application of a rapid, selective silver impregnation procedure for light (LM) and electron (EM) microscopy, individual neurons are distinguished by a light silver precipitation. The silver content is sufficient that entire nerve cells can be observed light microscopically; on the other hand, electron microscopically the cytological details are still visible. Brains of mice were fixed by phosphate-buffered aldehyde perfusion, and pices of tissue left in a 1% K2Cr2O7 solution for 13 h before impregnation in a 0.5% AgNO3 solution for 2 h. Thick sections (30-50 micron) of the impregnated tissue were cut; from these sections, suitably stained neurons were dissected out and re-embedded for ultrathin sectioning, thereby allowing observations on the same neurons at the EM level. A thin silver deposit was observed along the delimiting neuronal membrane, the microtubules and the smooth ER, including the spinal apparatus of the dendritic spines. The fine cytoplasmic details of the impregnated neurons and the surrounding tissue are well preserved and, therefore, suitable for subsequent determination of synaptic relationships of the impregnated neurons with the adjacent neuronal elements.