Abstract
Electron microscopy (EM) techniques have been crucial for understanding the structure of biological specimens such as cells, tissues and macromolecular assemblies. Viruses and related viral assemblies are ideal targets for structural studies that help to define essential biological functions. Whereas conventional EM methods use chemical fixation, dehydration, and staining of the specimens, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) preserves the native hydrated state. Combined with image processing and three-dimensional reconstruction techniques, cryo-EM provides 3D maps of these macromolecular complexes from projection images, at subnanometer to near-atomic resolutions. Cryo-EM is also a major technique in structural biology for dynamic studies of functional complexes, which are often unstable, flexible, scarce or transient in their native environments. As a tool, cryo-EM complements high-resolution techniques such as X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy; these synergistic hybrid approaches provide important new information. Three-dimensional cryo-electron tomography goes further, and allows the study of viruses not only in their physiological state, but also in their natural environment in the cell, thereby bridging structural studies at the molecular and cellular levels.
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Notes
- 1.
Also especially recommended for further reading are references [3, 4, 11, 23, 25, 26, 27, 35] listed above.
Abbreviations
- 2D:
-
Two-dimensional, two dimensions
- 3D:
-
Three-dimensional, three dimensions
- 3DR:
-
Three-dimensional reconstruction
- CCD:
-
Charge-coupled device
- cryo-EM:
-
Cryo-electron microscopy
- cryo-ET:
-
Cryo-electron tomography
- CTF:
-
Contrast transfer function
- EM:
-
Electron microscopy, electron microscope
- FEG:
-
Field emission gun
- FSC:
-
Fourier shell correlation
- FT:
-
Fourier transform
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy
- SSE:
-
Secondary structure element
- TEM:
-
Transmission electron microscopy
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Acknowledgements
I thank Daniel Luque for stimulating discussions, José L. Carrascosa and José M. Valpuesta for continuous support, comments and careful reading of the manuscript, Alasdair C. Steven and Benes L. Trus for advice and encouragement and Catherine Mark for editorial help. I am indebted to current and former members of my group (Irene Saugar, Daniel Luque, Nerea Irigoyen, Elena Pascual, Josué Gómez-Blanco, Mariana Castrillo, Ana Correia and Carlos Pérez) and other colleagues for their hard work, skills and enthusiasm that made work possible and enjoyable. This work was supported by grant BFU2011-25902 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.
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Castón, J.R. (2013). Conventional Electron Microscopy, Cryo-Electron Microscopy and Cryo-Electron Tomography of Viruses. In: Mateu, M. (eds) Structure and Physics of Viruses. Subcellular Biochemistry, vol 68. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6552-8_3
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