A simple and reliable method for the localization in cell culture of single identifiable cells for ultrastructural...

A simple method for relocating single cells in monolayer cultures for subsequent morphological or ultrastructural analysis is reported. This consists of producing, on the culture dish surface, a nontoxic carbon grid that is preserved during processing for either transmission (TEM) or scanning (SEM) electron microscopy. For TEM studies these grids are readily transferred along with the cells into the embedding plastic, and thus individual grid squares containing a cell(s) of interest can be quickly located, remounted, and sectioned. These grids may be useful for ultrastructural analyses of single cells previously studied electrophysiologically or after microinjection of macromolecules.