title: Putting structure into context: fitting of atomic models into electron microscopic and electron tomographic reconstructions.
abstract: A complete understanding of complex dynamic cellular processes such as cell migration or cell adhesion requires the integration of atomic level structural information into the larger cellular context. While direct atomic-level information at the cellular level remains inaccessible, electron microscopy, electron tomography and their associated computational image processing approaches have now matured to a point where sub-cellular structures can be imaged in three dimensions at the nanometer scale. Atomic-resolution information obtained by other means can be combined with this data to obtain three-dimensional models of large macromolecular assemblies in their cellular context. This article summarizes some recent advances in this field.
authors.affiliation: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, 10901 N Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. niels@sanfordburnham.org
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Volkmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000648:ultrastructure; D055032:Electron Microscope Tomography; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008854:Microscopy, Electron