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Three‐dimensional organization of the cytoskeleton: A cryo‐electron tomography perspective
Author(s) -
Chakraborty Saikat,
Jasnin Marion,
Baumeister Wolfgang
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
protein science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.353
H-Index - 175
eISSN - 1469-896X
pISSN - 0961-8368
DOI - 10.1002/pro.3858
Subject(s) - cryo electron tomography , cytoskeleton , context (archaeology) , electron tomography , in situ , perspective (graphical) , biophysics , tomography , computational biology , nanotechnology , physics , biology , computer science , cell , materials science , artificial intelligence , optics , biochemistry , electron microscope , scanning transmission electron microscopy , paleontology , meteorology
Traditionally, structures of cytoskeletal components have been studied ex situ, that is, with biochemically purified materials. There are compelling reasons to develop approaches to study them in situ in their native functional context. In recent years, cryo‐electron tomography emerged as a powerful method for visualizing the molecular organization of unperturbed cellular landscapes with the potential to attain near‐atomic resolution. Here, we review recent works on the cytoskeleton using cryo‐electron tomography, demonstrating the power of in situ studies. We also highlight the potential of this method in addressing important questions pertinent to the field of cytoskeletal biomechanics.