MicroED in drug discovery

Emma Danelius; Khushboo Patel; Brenda Gonzalez; Tamir Gonen

doi:10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102549

MicroED in drug discovery

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2023 Apr:79:102549. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102549. Epub 2023 Feb 21.

Authors

Emma Danelius¹, Khushboo Patel¹, Brenda Gonzalez¹, Tamir Gonen²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California Los Angeles, 615 Charles E.Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California Los Angeles, 615 Charles E.Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, 615 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Electronic address: tgonen@g.ucla.edu.

Abstract

The cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) method microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) was initially described in 2013 and has recently gained attention as an emerging technique for research in drug discovery. As compared to other methods in structural biology, MicroED provides many advantages deriving from the use of nanocrystalline material for the investigations. Here, we review the recent advancements in the field of MicroED and show important examples of small molecule, peptide and protein structures that has contributed to the current development of this method as an important tool for drug discovery.

Keywords: Cryo-EM; MicroED; Nanocrystals; Protein-ligand structures; Small molecule structures.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Cryoelectron Microscopy / methods
Drug Discovery
Electrons*
Models, Molecular
Proteins* / chemistry

Substances

Proteins

Grants and funding

P41 GM136508/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States