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An introduction to scanning transmission electron microscopy for parasitology samples
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  • Sylvain Trépout,
  • Marie-Laure Sgarra,
  • Sergio Marco,
  • Georg Ramm
Sylvain Trépout
Monash University Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Marie-Laure Sgarra
Sanofi
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Sergio Marco
Sanofi
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Georg Ramm
Monash University Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
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Abstract

Since its inception in the 1930’s, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been a powerful method to explore the cellular structure of parasites. TEM usually requires samples of < 100 nm thick and with parasites being larger than 1 µm, their study requires resin embedding and ultrathin sectioning. During the past decade, several new methods have been developed to improve, facilitate and speed-up the structural characterisation of biological samples, offering new imaging modalities for parasitology. In particular, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) can be used to observe sample sections as thick as 1 µm thus becoming an alternative to conventional TEM. STEM can also be performed under cryogenic conditions in combination with cryo-electron tomography providing access to the study of thicker samples in their native hydrated states in 3D. This method, called cryo-scanning transmission electron tomography (cryo-STET), was first developed in 2014. This review presents the basic concepts and benefits of the STEM methods and provides examples to illustrate the potential for new insights into the structure and ultrastructure of parasites.
01 Aug 2023Submitted to Molecular Microbiology
02 Aug 2023Submission Checks Completed
02 Aug 2023Assigned to Editor
04 Aug 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
28 Aug 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
28 Aug 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor