JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments
Microbiology
0 views • 3:24 min • September 30th, 2026
Begin with a carbon-coated transmission electron microscopy or TEM grid placed on a glass slide.
Place the slide inside a chamber and apply a glow discharge to make the carbon surface hydrophilic for uniform sample spreading.
Remove the slide, hold the grid with tweezers and apply a suspension of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) nanoparticles onto it.
These nanoparticles consist of recombinant HEV capsid proteins and lack nucleic acids and accessory viral proteins.
Incubate to allow the nanoparticles to adsorb onto the grid surface. Then blot with filter paper to absorb the excess suspension.
Wash the grid with deionized water to remove unadsorbed nanoparticles, and blot again.
Add uranyl acetate stain and incubate briefly.
Uranyl acetate forms an electron-dense background around the nanoparticles, which enhances contrast during TEM imaging.
Blot excess stain and place the grid in a dehumidifying chamber to dry.
Under TEM, HEV nanoparticles appear as uniform, hollow, icosahedral structures that lack viral nucleic acids.
Dilute the HEV nanoparticles samples to between 0.5 and two milligrams per milliliter with 10 millimolar MES, pH 6.2 for a TEM imaging. Ionize the carbon coated grids with 40 milliamp
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