Elemental mapping by electron energy loss spectroscopy in biology

Methods Mol Biol. 2013:950:209-26. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-137-0_13.

Abstract

Over the past decades there have been significant advances in transmission electron microscopy for biological applications, including in energy filtering and spectrum imaging, which are techniques based on the principles of electron energy loss spectroscopy. These imaging modalities allow quantitative mapping of specific chemical elements with high sensitivity and spatial resolution. This chapter describes the experimental and computational procedures for elemental mapping in two dimensions as well as a more recent extension to three dimensions, which can reveal quantitative distributions of elements in cells on a macromolecular scale.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biology / methods*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / cytology
  • DNA / metabolism
  • Drosophila melanogaster / cytology
  • Drosophila melanogaster / embryology
  • Elements*
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian / cytology
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian / metabolism
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / instrumentation
  • Phosphorus / metabolism
  • Spectroscopy, Electron Energy-Loss / methods*
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Thymocytes / cytology
  • Thymocytes / ultrastructure

Substances

  • Elements
  • Phosphorus
  • DNA