Seminars Archive

Soft X-ray Contact Microscopy for cellular organelles analysis

Abstract
Soft X-ray Contact Microscopy (SXCM) is a useful tool for the observation of biological systems in their natural hydrated conditions. Among current X-ray generating sources, laser-plasma sources are now easily available and, owing to their pulse nature, offer the possibility to observe living biological samples before radiation damage occurs. To assess the potentiality of laser-plasma source SXCM in the study of cellular organelles, the analysis of chloroplasts extracted from spinach leaves and mitochondria isolated from bovine heart and liver was performed. The X-ray images imprinted on the photo resist were developed and analyzed with an atomic force microscope (AFM) and were compared with those produced by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) observation of the same samples prepared with negative staining, a technique requiring no chemical fixation, in order to facilitate their interpretation and test the applicability of SXCM imaging.