Composite transmission electron microscopic image of the retinal pigment epithelium of an 80-year-old human donor.

A 150 nm thick non-osmicated section was collected on a formvar-covered copper mesh grid, placed in a drop of water on a glass slide, coverslipped and investigated with light and fluorescence microscopy. Subsequently, the grid was recovered, air dried and imaged without any further heavy metal staining with a transmission electron microscope. The image is composed of 20 individual images taken at x12,000 magnification. Asterisks mark artifacts due to dirt. Melanosomes appear black due to their intrinsic electron density. Lipofuscin granules are medium gray. Melanolipofucin granules can be identified by a melanosome core with a lipofuscin shell or one or several lipofuscin protrusions.

在一张覆有Formvar的铜网栅上采集了一层150纳米厚的非浸渗切片，将其置于载玻片上的水滴中，加盖玻片后，采用光学显微镜和荧光显微镜进行观察。随后，该网栅被回收，经空气干燥，并在无需进一步重金属染色的条件下，使用透射电子显微镜进行成像。图像由20张单独的图像组成，这些图像是在12,000倍放大倍数下拍摄的。星号标记了由灰尘引起的伪影。由于黑色素颗粒固有的电子密度，它们呈现黑色。脂褐素颗粒呈中等灰色。黑色素脂褐素颗粒可通过黑色素核心和脂褐素壳或一个或多个脂褐素突起进行识别。