Unravelling biological macromolecules with cryo-electron microscopy.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27629640.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/nature19948 and PMC identifier PMC8926079.
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Abstract
Knowledge of the three-dimensional structures of proteins and other biological macromolecules often aids understanding of how they perform complicated tasks in the cell. Because many such tasks involve the cleavage or formation of chemical bonds, structural characterization at the atomic level is most useful. Developments in the electron microscopy of frozen hydrated samples (cryo-electron microscopy) are providing unprecedented opportunities for the structural characterization of biological macromolecules. This is resulting in a wave of information about processes in the cell that were impossible to characterize with existing techniques in structural biology.