Poster Presentation 24th Australian Conference on Microscopy and Microanalysis 2016

Using CryoTEM and negative stain electron microscopy to reveal the structure of self-assembled hydrogels (#262)

Julian Ratcliffe 1 2 , Lynne Waddington 3 , James Gardiner 2 , John S Forsythe 1
  1. Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
  2. CSIRO, Notting Hill, VIC, Australia
  3. CSIRO, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Self assembling peptide hydrogels, which are being investigated for applications in neural tissue repair were investigated using complementary transmission electron microscopy techniques. The use of cryoTEM allows observations of the macromolecular fibres in their native fully hydrated state within the hydrogel. Additional analysis with negative staining allows for higher contrast imaging, which make it easier to resolve some details of the structure. Each of these methods is only able to portray a part of the hydrogel’s structure. Through this combined approach a truly representative understanding of the material is achieved.