Abstract
For many years, structure determination of biological macromolecules by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) was limited to large complexes or low-resolution models. With recent advances in electron detection and image processing, the resolution by cryo-EM is now beginning to rival X-ray crystallography. A new generation of electron detectors record images with unprecedented quality, while new image-processing tools correct for sample movements and classify images according to different structural states. Combined, these advances yield density maps with sufficient detail to deduce the atomic structure for a range of specimens. Here, we review the recent advances and illustrate the exciting new opportunities that they offer to structural biology research.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 49-57 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Trends in biochemical sciences |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2015 |
Keywords
- 3D reconstruction
- Cryo-electron microscopy
- Electron detection
- Image processing
- Macromolecular complexes
- Maximum-likelihood optimization
- Single-particle analysis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology