MicroED opens a new era for biological structure determination

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2016 Oct:40:128-135. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2016.09.007. Epub 2016 Oct 1.

Abstract

In 2013 we unveiled the cryo-electron microscopy (CryoEM) method of MicroED, or three-dimensional (3D) electron diffraction of microscopic crystals. Here tiny 3D crystals of biological material are used in an electron microscope for diffraction data collection under cryogenic conditions. The data is indexed, integrated, merged and scaled using standard X-ray crystallography software to determine structures at atomic resolution. In this review we provide an overview of the MicroED method and compare it with other CryoEM methods.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cryoelectron Microscopy / methods*
  • Electrons
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional
  • Proteins / chemistry

Substances

  • Proteins