Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Apr;396(1):1-18.
doi: 10.1007/s00441-024-03878-7. Epub 2024 Feb 28.

The application and development of electron microscopy for three-dimensional reconstruction in life science: a review

Jingjing Zhao  1 , Xiaoping Yu  1 , Xuping Shentu  1 , Danting Li  2
Affiliations
Review

The application and development of electron microscopy for three-dimensional reconstruction in life science: a review

Jingjing Zhao et al. Cell Tissue Res. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Imaging technologies have played a pivotal role in advancing biological research by enabling visualization of biological structures and processes. While traditional electron microscopy (EM) produces two-dimensional images, emerging techniques now allow high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) characterization of specimens in situ, meeting growing needs in molecular and cellular biology. Combining transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with serial sectioning inaugurated 3D imaging, attracting biologists seeking to explore cell ultrastructure and driving advancement of 3D EM reconstruction. By comprehensively and precisely rendering internal structure and distribution, 3D TEM reconstruction provides unparalleled ultrastructural insights into cells and molecules, holding tremendous value for elucidating structure-function relationships and broadly propelling structural biology. Here, we first introduce the principle of 3D reconstruction of cells and tissues by classical approaches in TEM and then discuss modern technologies utilizing TEM and on new SEM-based as well as cryo-electron microscope (cryo-EM) techniques. 3D reconstruction techniques from serial sections, electron tomography (ET), and the recent single-particle analysis (SPA) are examined; the focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), the serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM), and automatic tape-collecting lathe ultramicrotome (ATUM-SEM) for 3D reconstruction of large volumes are discussed. Finally, we review the challenges and development prospects of these technologies in life science. It aims to provide an informative reference for biological researchers.

Keywords: Application status; Electron microscopy; Future prospects; Three-dimensional reconstruction principle; Three-dimensional reconstruction technology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Adrian M, Dubochet J, Lepault J, McDowall AW (1984) Cryo-electron microscopy of viruses. Nature 308:32–36 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Akhtar K, Khan SA, Khan SB, Asiri AM (2018) Scanning electron microscopy: principle and applications in nanomaterials characterization. Handbook of Materials Characterization pp 113–145
    1. Albert S, Schaffer M, Beck F, Mosalaganti S, Asano S, Thomas HF, Plitzko JM, Beck M, Baumeister W, Engel BD (2017) Proteasomes tether to two distinct sites at the nuclear pore complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114:13726–13731 - PubMed - PMC - DOI
    1. Allegretti M, Zimmerli CE, Rantos V, Wilfling F, Ronchi P, Fung HKH, Lee CW, Hagen W, Turonova B, Karius K, Bormel M, Zhang X, Muller CW, Schwab Y, Mahamid J, Pfander B, Kosinski J, Beck M (2020) In-cell architecture of the nuclear pore and snapshots of its turnover. Nature 586:796–800 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Antao NV, Sall J, Petzold C, Ekiert DC, Bhabha G, Liang F-X (2023) Sample preparation and data collection for serial block face scanning electron microscopy of mammalian cell monolayers. Preprint article

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources