Three-dimensional ultrastructure of anionic sites of the glomerular basement membrane by a quick-freezing and deep-etching method using a cationic tracer

Summary The ultrastructure of anionic sites in the lamina rara externa (LRE) of rat glomerular basement membrane (GBM) was studied in three dimensions by a quick-freezing and deep-etching method using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a cationic tracer. Results were compared with those obtained with conventional ultrathin sections examined by transmission electron microscopy. Examination with the quick-freezing and deep-etching method was done without (group 1) or with (group 2) contrasting/fixation with a phosphotungstic acid and glutaraldehyde mixture and post-fixation with osmium tetroxide, which were necessary for visualization of PEI particles by conventional ultrathin sections. Using the quick-freezing and deep-etching method without following contrasting/fixation and post-fixation (group 1), many PEI particles were observed to decorate around fibrils, which radiated perpendicularly from the lamina densa to connect with the podocyte cell membrane. The arrangement of PEI particles was not as regular as that previously reported using conventional ultrathin sections. In contrast, the tissue that was studied with quick-freezing and deep-etching followed by contrasting/fixation and post-fixation (group 2) showed a shrunken appearance. The arrangement of PEI particles was regular (about 20 particles/1000 nm of LRE) as that previously observed using conventional ultrathin sections. However, the number of PEI particles on the LRE was markedly decreased and interruption of decorated fibrils was prominent, as compared with group 1. Ultrastructural examination using conventional ultrathin sections with contrasting/fixation and post-fixation (group 3) demonstrated PEI particles on the LRE in reasonable amounts (18–21 particles/1000 nm of LRE) with fairly regular interspacing (45–65 nm) as reported previously.This is the first report to identify the three-dimensional ultrastructure of anionic sites of GBM, and provides new information on the location and distribution of anionic sites in the glomerular capillary wall. In addition, these studies suggest that several chemical procedures used in conventional transmission electron microscopy to visualize PEI tracers, may produce structural changes and disarrangement of PEI particles that can be avoided with the quick-freezing and deep-etching method.