Practicals Flashcards
Resolution an magnification of different microscope types?
Light: 0.2um 100x
TEM: 1nm 10,000,000x
SEM: 10nm
How should specimins be prepared for a TEM
- Fixed cells
- Dehydrated
- Embedded in plastic resin
- Sliced into thin sections (100nm)
- Stain using heavy metal salts
What is negative staining and when is it used?
Useful to visulise small structures such a protein molecules, virus particles and microtubules
- Use heavy metal stain (strong electron scattering ability)
- Specimins will stand out as light objects
How to prepare specimin for a SEM?
Coat specimin with conductive material such as gold
Useful to get detailed pictures of intact specimins
What is the function of the condensor?
Focus’s light onto the specimin
The condensor assembly sits directly beneath the stage
What are the irus’s of a microscope?
Two iris’s: the field iris and condenser iris
The two iris’s must be aligned with the optic axis and adjusted for optimal viewing of the specimin
What is the turret disc and when is it adjusted?
Part of the condenser assembly: turns to alternate between phase contrast and bright field viewing
What is the function of the condensor focus?
Raises/lowers the whole consenser assembly
What is the function of the focus?
Moves the stage
Setting up a microscope for bright field microscopy
- Insert specimin
- Focus the specimin using the fine and corse focus
- Bincoular tube adjustment (distance between eyepieces)
- Focus and centre the condensor
- Adjust consensor iris
How to focus and centre the condensor?
Use the lever that controls the consensor iris to the middle position
Slowly close the field iris gradually until hexagon comes into view
Use condensor focus to sharpen the image of the hexagon
Centre the hexagon using condensor centring screws
Open the field iris until the edge of the hexagon just disappears
How to adjust the consensor iris?
Remove one of the eyepieces and look down the baralell
Shift the consensor iris lever completly to the left hand side to fully open consensor iris
Close the condensor iris until the diameter of the illuminated circle is 2/3 of the whole field
Return the eyepiece
What do do when changing to 40x?
Only use fine focus to focus the specimin
Focus and centre condensor as before
Field iris adjustment as before
Consensor iris adjustment as before
What to do using 100x magnification?
Use immersion oil and gently raise the stage stage with corse focus
What is the spacial resolving power of a microscope?
Smallest seperation at which two objects can be distinguished
d = 0.61(theta)/NA
d = minimum resolved distance (um)
theta = light wavelength
NA = numerical apature of objective lens
What are the 4 adjustments you should make to the microscope each time you change lens/specimin?
- Condensor focus (hexagon)
- Condensor centreing
- Field iris diameter (open until hexagon just disappears)
- Condensor iris diameter (2/3 of whole field)
When is bright field microscopy used?
Viewing structures which absorb some of the incident light
-*stained slides or pigmented cells**
But many cells have little absorption
When is phase contrast microscopy useful and why?
Examining specimins such as biological tissues that do not absrob a lot of light.
It enchances contrast in transparant tissues, allowing us to see structures in cells
Stains for DNA and RNA?
DNA: Methyl green stains DNA green/blue
RNA: Pyronin stains RNA pink
What do methyl green and pyronin stain?
Methyl green stains DNA green/blue
Pyronin stains RNA pink
What does the stain toludine blue stain?
Zymogen granules in acini of kidney blue
How is set up of phase contrast achived?
Rotate turret disc (moves different optical elements into the light path)
Generally, more light is need, so increase the brightness
What are pseudopodia?
The lobes of ameoba that extend as they move
How may cells be fixed for TEM viewing?
Cryofixation and chemical fixation
What is freeze fracture and its use?
Method of preparing specimin for TEM
1. Rapidly freeze sample in liquid nitrogen
2. Fractured with cold knife
Useful to look at internal structure of cells and membranes
Negative staining: what and use?
Useful for looking at very small particles
Specimin suspended in heavy metal salt
3 ways to prepare a specimin for TEM
- Thin specimin
- Freeze fracture
- Negative staining
Use of florecnse microscopy?
Provides specific infomation about the location of particlar proteins/molecules within a cell
How does a flourcent molecule work?
Absorbs light at one wavelength and emits it at another - detectable at very low concentrations
Ways to use flouresnce microscopy?
- Naturally flourecent molecules in living cells
- Flourecent dyes:
- bind to specific organelles or molcules or ions - Immunoflourecnse
- Fixed cells are permeabilised with detergent
- Antibodies move into the cell and attach to complimentry proteins
- Secondary antibody binds to primary antibody and is fixed to flourcent dye - Flourecent proteins
- GFP
- Use recombinant DNA technology to join them to other protein encoding genes
Why might laser scanning confocal microscopy be used?
Out of focus light from the ordinary floursent microscope is removed
How does the bradford assay work?
Based on coomassine dye
Changes colour from red to blue when it binds to basic amino acids (mainly arginine)