No.2（1999）15.New microscopies for the observation of wet biological specimens

Yasuhito KINJO, Kunio SHINOHARA, Atsushi ITO, Hiroyuki DAIDO Henryk FIEDOROWICZ, Kiyoshi UCHIKAWA, Shouhei ODA and Makoto WATANABE

Two types of new microscopies were used for the observation of wet human chromosomes. X-ray contact microscopy coupled with atomic force microscopy (AFM)and video-enhanced microscopy (VEM) were applied to surface-spread chromosomes and chromosomes in living cells, respectively. Observing directly by AFM the X-ray images once detected in an optical microscope was much easier than observing the replica images of them by transmission electron microscope (TEM). However, the resolution was higher in the replica-TEM system than in AFM for the observation of fine structures of chromosomes including nucleosome organization in a chromatin fiber. Unstained chromosomes in a living cell were clearly observed through a cell membrane by VEM in a differential interference contrast (DIC) mode. The images were much clearer than those obtained with conventional DIC microscope. Much useful information on the fine structures and the functions of chromosome will be obtained by combining the above techniques.

Keywords
Wet human chromosome, X-ray contact microscopy, Atomic force microscopy, Video-enhanced microscope

Back to Contents