Liquid-EM goes viral - visualizing structure and dynamics

Deborah F Kelly; Liza-Anastasia DiCecco; G M Jonaid; William J Dearnaley; Michael S Spilman; Jennifer L Gray; Madeline J Dressel-Dukes

doi:10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102426

Liquid-EM goes viral - visualizing structure and dynamics

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2022 Aug:75:102426. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102426. Epub 2022 Jul 19.

Authors

Deborah F Kelly¹, Liza-Anastasia DiCecco², G M Jonaid³, William J Dearnaley⁴, Michael S Spilman⁵, Jennifer L Gray⁶, Madeline J Dressel-Dukes⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: Debkelly@psu.edu.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L7, Canada. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/LizaDiCecco.
³ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Bioinformatics and Genomics Graduate Program, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/PennStateMRI.
⁵ Direct Electron, LP, San Diego, CA 92128, USA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/DirectElectron.
⁶ Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁷ Protochips Inc., Morrisville, NC 27560, USA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/Protochips.

PMID: 35868163
DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102426

Abstract

Liquid-electron microscopy (EM), the room temperature correlate to cryo-EM, is an exciting new technique delivering real-time data of dynamic reactions in solution. Here, we explain how liquid-EM gained popularity in recent years by examining key experiments conducted on viral assemblies and host-pathogen interactions. We describe developing workflows for specimen preparation, data collection, and computing processes that led to the first high-resolution virus structures in a liquid environment. Equally important, we review why liquid-electron tomography may become the next big thing in biomedical research due to its ability to monitor live viruses entering cells within seconds. Taken together, we pose the idea that liquid-EM can serve as a dynamic complement to current cryo-EM methods, inspiring the "real-time revolution" in nanoscale imaging.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Cryoelectron Microscopy / methods
Electron Microscope Tomography*
Microscopy, Electron
Viral Structures
Viruses* / chemistry

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding