Electron Microscopic Assessment - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 466

is carefully taken from the pons. The artery taken apart is cut
on length of 1-2 mm. And the rest of the artery can be used
for light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy if
necessary.
The specimen is fi xed in the same solution as the perfusion
fi xation, and then post-fi xed with 1% osmium tetroxide in
buffer solution for 2 h, and dehydrated in a graded series of
ethanol solutions. The specimen is bathed with propylene
oxide and embedded in epoxy-resin. Ultra-thin section is
obtained using an ultra microtome, and this section is stained
with uranyl acetate and lead citrate.
2. Scanning electron microscopy (Fig. 1b ):
The artery taken as described before is incised longitudinally
under a surgical microscope when the luminal surface is
observed (see Note 2).
The specimen is post-fi xed with 1% osmium tetroxide in
buffer (pH 7.4) for 90 min at 4°C, dehydrated in a graded eth-
anol series, dried at the critical point, and sputter-coated with
gold.
Fig. 2. Production of the specimen for scanning electron microscopy.