Methods for removing uranyl acetate precipitate from ultrathin sections

Abstract

Precipitate resulting from en bloc staining with uranyl acetate was removed by treating sections with 15% oxalic acid in 50% methanol for 30 minutes at 40 C. Precipitate resulting from poststaining sections with hot uranyl acetate was removed by rinsing sections in 0.25-0.50% aqueous oxalic acid for 10-15 seconds at room temperature. Rinsing sections for longer than 30 seconds removed uranyl precipitate and also destained the sections. These procedures did not damage the embedding medium or cellular detail.