The Production of Cryosections Through Fixed and Cryoprotected Biological Material and Their Use in Immunocytochemistry

Immunocytochemistry is the name given to methods that use antibodies to detect the location of proteins within cells using electron microscopy (EM). The antibodies bind specifically to the protein being investigated and electron opaque markers visualize their location within the cell. For electron microscopy, it is important to have preparation methods that open the cells and allow access of antibodies to the proteins (or antigens) they bind to without destroying the normal cellular organization (or morphology). If possible, the data obtained from immunocytochemical experiments should be quantitative (see Note 1 ).