Capítulo: Immunoelectron Microscopy: a reliable tool for the analysis of cellular processes. ISBN 978-953-308-18-9

ANA LUCIA DE PAUL,; JORGE HUMBERTO MUKDSI,; JUAN PABLO PETITI; SILVINA GUTIERREZ,; AMADO QUINTAR; CRISTINA MALDONADO; ALICIA TORRES

Applications of Immunocytochemistry

INTECH Open Access Publisher.

Lugar: Janeza Trdine 9. 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; Año: 2011; p. 65 - 96

Electron Microscopy is an indispensable tool to investigate the intricate structures of the cell and organelles, and also to study the cellular biological processes implicated in the responses to changes in the microenvironment. However, several cellular events may be missed if conventional ultrastructural studies are not complemented with details concerning the subcellular localization of a wide range of specific proteins which can become rearranged as part of their own dynamic processes. Thus, immunoelectron microscopy emerges as a technique that links the information gap between biochemistry, molecular biology, and ultrastructural studies, by placing macromolecular functions within a cellular context. The present chapter is intended to describe the main scope and protocols of the immunogold methods which have been successfully utilized at our research center for the examination and analysis of intracellular and cell surface proteins in mammalian cells. Furthermore, at the ultrastructural level, we demonstrate the role of immunogold labeling in the study of biological processes induced by different stimuli from the environment.