Open AccessIntroduction to high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Mariusz Czarnocki-Cieciura,
Marcin Nowotny
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
postępy biochemii
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.244
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 0032-5422
DOI - 10.18388/pb.2016_43
Subject(s) - cryo electron microscopy , resolution (logic) , macromolecule , electron microscope , transmission electron microscopy , biological specimen , electron tomography , structural biology , microscopy , nanotechnology , high resolution transmission electron microscopy , chemistry , scanning transmission electron microscopy , materials science , physics , optics , computer science , biochemistry , artificial intelligence
For many years two techniques have dominated structural biology â X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. Traditional cryo-electron microscopy of biological macromolecules produced macromolecular reconstructions at resolution limited to 6â10 Ă
. Recent development of transmission electron microscopes, in particular the development of direct electron detectors, and continuous improvements in the available software, have led to the âresolution revolution” in cryo-EM. It is now possible to routinely obtain near-atomic-resolution 3D maps of intact biological macromolecules as small as ~100 kDa. Thus, cryo-EM is now becoming the method of choice for structural analysis of many complex assemblies that are unsuitable for structure determination by other methods.