title: Single-particle electron microscopy in the study of membrane protein structure.
abstract: Single-particle electron microscopy (EM) provides the great advantage that protein structure can be studied without the need to grow crystals. However, due to technical limitations, this approach played only a minor role in the study of membrane protein structure. This situation has recently changed dramatically with the introduction of direct electron detection device cameras, which allow images of unprecedented quality to be recorded, also making software algorithms, such as three-dimensional classification and structure refinement, much more powerful. The enhanced potential of single-particle EM was impressively demonstrated by delivering the first long-sought atomic model of a member of the biomedically important transient receptor potential channel family. Structures of several more membrane proteins followed in short order. This review recounts the history of single-particle EM in the study of membrane proteins, describes the technical advances that now allow this approach to generate atomic models of membrane proteins and provides a brief overview of some of the membrane protein structures that have been studied by single-particle EM to date.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Zorzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Maofu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA twalz@rockefeller.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walz
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins
keywords: cryo-electron microscopy; membrane proteins; single-particle electron microscopy; structure determination