title: Automated particle picking for low-contrast macromolecules in cryo-electron microscopy.
abstract: Cryo-electron microscopy is an increasingly popular tool for studying the structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules at high resolution. A crucial step in automating single-particle reconstruction of a biological sample is the selection of particle images from a micrograph. We present a novel algorithm for selecting particle images in low-contrast conditions; it proves more effective than the human eye on close-to-focus micrographs, yielding improved or comparable resolution in reconstructions of two macromolecular complexes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langlois
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pallesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States.
authors.forename: Jordan T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ash
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States.
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nam Ho
authors.affiliation: The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto M5G 0A4, Canada; Departments of Biochemistry and Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 1A8, Canada.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States. Electronic address: jf2192@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frank
mesh_terms: D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000648:ultrastructure; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D054681:Ribosome Subunits, Large, Bacterial / Q000648:ultrastructure; D054680:Ribosome Subunits, Small, Bacterial / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012984:Software; D016963:Thermus thermophilus; D025262:Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D025262:Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases
keywords: Automation; Cryo-EM; High-resolution; Machine-learning; Particle selection