Electron tomography—a tool for ultrastructural 3D visualization in cell biology and histology

Electron tomography (ET) was developed to overcome some of the problems associated reconstructing three-dimensional (3D) images from 2D election microscopy data from ultrathin slices. Virtual sections of semithin sample are obtained by incremental rotation of the target and this information is used to assemble a 3D image. Herein, we provide an instruction to ET including the physical principle, possibilities, and limitations. We review the development of innovative methods and highlight important investigations performed in our department and with our collaborators. ET has opened up the third dimension at the ultrastructural level and represents a milestone in structural molecular biology.