Abstract
Synthetic lipid bilayer membranes have been visualized directly in the electron microscope as thin sections and as shadowed preparations. Fixation with lanthanum nitrate plus potassium permanganate and the application of special embedding techniques have made this possible. Trilamellar images of varying thicknesses were seen in thin sections of fixed membranes; measurements made from microdensitometer tracings have thicknesses (peak-to-peak distances) ranging from 37.5 to 116 Å. The mean peak-to-peak distance (73.4 ± 21.8 Å) is in good agreement with the value obtained by optical measurements on similar membranes (Huang & Thompson, 1965,1966). In addition, multilayered structures resembling myelinic figures were seen. These structures showed a mean peak-to-peak repeat distance of 38.6 ± 3.6 Å. The thickness of fixed membranes was estimated also from shadow-cast preparations; the mean thickness was 105 Å.
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