Electron Tomography for Organelles, Cells, and Tissues

Electron tomography (ET) is an emerging electron microscopy (EM) technique for three-dimensional (3D) visualization of molecular arrangements and ultrastructural architectures in organelles, cells, and tissues at 2–10 nm resolution. The 3D tomogram is reconstructed from a series of 2D EM images taken from a single specimen at different projecting orientations. The specimen for ET must be specially prepared to meet the ET imaging requirements, i.e., ultrastructural preservation, specimen thickness, tolerance of electron dose and vacuum, and image contrast. In this chapter, the strategies of specimen preparation of organelles, cells, and tissues and the corresponding EM imaging requirements for ET will be described in detail. In addition, the general procedures tomographic reconstruction and tomogram interpretation will be described.