title: How cryo-EM is revolutionizing structural biology.
abstract: For many years, structure determination of biological macromolecules by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) was limited to large complexes or low-resolution models. With recent advances in electron detection and image processing, the resolution by cryo-EM is now beginning to rival X-ray crystallography. A new generation of electron detectors record images with unprecedented quality, while new image-processing tools correct for sample movements and classify images according to different structural states. Combined, these advances yield density maps with sufficient detail to deduce the atomic structure for a range of specimens. Here, we review the recent advances and illustrate the exciting new opportunities that they offer to structural biology research.
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.
authors.forename: Xiao-chen
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McMullan
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK. Electronic address: scheres@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sjors H W
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Scheres
mesh_terms: D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry*; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances
keywords: 3D reconstruction; cryo-electron microscopy; electron detection; image processing; macromolecular complexes; maximum-likelihood optimization; single-particle analysis