Studies of cerebral endothelium by scanning and high-voltage electron microscopy.

Abstract

This chapter reviews methods for the preparation of central nervous system (CNS) tissues for scanning (SEM) and high-voltage electron microscopic (HVEM) studies of the cerebral vasculature. The techniques described here have been used by the authors for the past two decades for investigations of pathologic alterations of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) after a variety of experimentally induced injuries in mammalian (, , , ) and non-mammalian species (, , ). The question of when to use one morphologic application over another becomes important for studies of cerebrovascular endothelial cells (ECs).