The ultrastructure of the connective tissue matrix of skin and cartilage after high-pressure freezing and freeze-substitution.

Studies designed to investigate the ultrastructure of the connective tissue matrix have historically relied on chemical fixatives to stabilize tissue microarchitecture. However, conventional fixatives are not completely effective in retaining many matrix constituents, including proteoglycans. Fixative recipes have been modified to include agents that retain proteoglycans, but they precipitate the glycosaminoglycan moiety into electron-dense granules and therefore do not preserve native microstructure. To avoid the structural artifacts introduced by aqueous fixatives, we prepared cartilage and skin by a cryostabilization procedure that included high-pressure freezing and freeze-substitution. Although similar approaches have been applied previously for study of connective tissue, our results and interpretation of matrix structure are significantly dissimilar. In optimally preserved areas of cartilage, collagen fibrils are continually surrounded by a densely staining sol. Empty fluid spaces are absent. In less optimally preserved areas, artifacts are noted and described, including a network that mimics the expected structure of proteoglycan. Similarly, the dermal matrix of human skin contains a preponderance of densely staining material that almost fills the voids commonly seen after aqueous fixation. Decorin, immunolocalized to the surface of dermal collagen fibrils, appears to be retained after this procedure.