Chemical fixation creates nanoscale clusters on the cell surface by aggregating membrane proteins

• Published in: Communications biology Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 487 - 9
• Main Authors: Ichikawa, Takehiko, Wang, Dong, Miyazawa, Keisuke, Miyata, Kazuki, Oshima, Masanobu, Fukuma, Takeshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20.05.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/19; 14/3; 631/1647/245; 631/57/2271; 631/57/2282; Atomic force microscopy; Biology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell surface; Fixatives; Life Sciences; Membrane proteins; Microscopy; Proteins; Silicon nitride

Chemical fixations have been thought to preserve the structures of the cells or tissues. However, given that the fixatives create crosslinks or aggregate proteins, there is a possibility that these fixatives create nanoscale artefacts by aggregation of membrane proteins which move around freely to s...