Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single particle analysis has become one of the major techniques used to study high-resolution 3D structures of biological macromolecules. Specimens are generally prepared in a thin layer of vitrified ice using a holey carbon grid. However, the sample quality using this type of grid is not always ideal for high-resolution imaging even when the specimens in the test tube behave ideally. Various problems occur during a vitrification procedure, including poor/nonuniform distribution of particles, preferred orientation of particles, specimen denaturation/degradation, high background from thick ice, and beam-induced motion, which have become important bottlenecks in high-resolution structural studies using cryo-EM in many projects. In recent years, grids with support films made of graphene and its derivatives have been developed to efficiently solve these problems. Here, the various advantages of graphene grids over conventional holey carbon film grids, functionalization of graphene support films, production methods of graphene grids, and origins of pristine graphene contamination are reviewed and discussed.
International Workshop of 3D Molecular Imaging by Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Third K. H. Kuo Summer School of Electron Microscopy and Crystallography in 2010.
International Workshop of Advanced Image Processing of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, 2013
Get acquainted with Cryo-Electron Microscopy: First Chinese Workshop for Structural Biologists, 2015
International Workshop of Advanced Image Processing of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, 2015
Instutions
Instutions
Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Scripps Research Institute
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
Database
Database
National Center for Biotechnology Information(NCBI)
Protein Data Bank
The Electron Microscopy Data Bank
ExPASy Proteomics Server
Pfam
3D EM
3DEM
Tools and Softwars
Tools and Softwars
CCP4
CCP-EM
MOLE 2.0 (characterization of channels and pores in protein complex)
