Immunolabeling for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission SEM

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a high resolution surface imaging technique. Many biological process and structures occur at surfaces and if antibodies are available, their components can be located within the surface structure. This is usually done in a similar way to immuno-fluorescence, using an unconjugated primary antibody followed by a tagged secondary antibody against the primary. In this case the tag is usually a colloidal gold particle instead of a fluorophore. Therefore it is quite straightforward to adapt an immuno-fluorescence procedure for SEM, as long as certain precautions are followed, as discussed here. Progressing from immuno-fluorescence, which essentially only indicates the position of a protein within the volume of a cell, to immuno-SEM, puts the labeling into the context of cellular structures. The principles and practices of sample preparation, labeling and imaging are described here.