WikiSysop: Created page with "== Citation == Liu, Nan / Wang, Hong-Wei. Better Cryo-EM Specimen Preparation: How to Deal with the Air--Water Interface? 2023. J. Molecular Biology, Vol. 435, No. 9, p. 1679..."

2023-08-22T09:58:53Z

Created page with "== Citation == Liu, Nan / Wang, Hong-Wei. Better Cryo-EM Specimen Preparation: How to Deal with the Air--Water Interface? 2023. J. Molecular Biology, Vol. 435, No. 9, p. 1679..."

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== Citation ==

Liu, Nan / Wang, Hong-Wei. Better Cryo-EM Specimen Preparation: How to Deal with the Air--Water Interface? 2023. J. Molecular Biology, Vol. 435, No. 9, p. 167926

== Abstract ==

Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is now one of the most powerful and widely used methods to
determine high-resolution structures of macromolecules. A major bottleneck of cryo-EM is to prepare
high-quality vitrified specimen, which still faces many practical challenges. During the conventional vitrification
process, macromolecules tend to adsorb at the air–water interface (AWI), which is known
unfriendly to biological samples. In this review, we outline the nature of AWI and the problems caused
by it, such as unpredictable or uneven particle distribution, protein denaturation, dissociation of complex
and preferential orientation. We review and discuss the approaches and underlying mechanisms to deal
with AWI: 1) Additives, exemplified by detergents, forming a protective layer at AWI and thus preserving
the native folds of target macromolecules. 2) Fast vitrification devices based on the idea to freeze insolution
macromolecules before their touching of AWI. 3) Thin layer of continuous supporting films to
adsorb macromolecules, and when functionalized with affinity ligands, to specifically anchor the target
particles away from the AWI. Among these supporting films, graphene, together with its derivatives, with
negligible background noise and mechanical robustness, has emerged as a new generation of support.
These strategies have been proven successful in various cases and enable us a better handling of the
problems caused by the AWI in cryo-EM specimen preparation.

== Keywords ==

== Links ==

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022283622005538

== Related software ==

== Related methods ==

== Comments ==

2023Liu AirWater - Revision history

WikiSysop: Created page with "== Citation == Liu, Nan / Wang, Hong-Wei. Better Cryo-EM Specimen Preparation: How to Deal with the Air--Water Interface? 2023. J. Molecular Biology, Vol. 435, No. 9, p. 1679..."