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Review
. 2020 Apr;29(4):872-882.
doi: 10.1002/pro.3805. Epub 2019 Dec 26.

Developments, applications, and prospects of cryo-electron microscopy

Xu Benjin  1 , Liu Ling  1
Affiliations
Review

Developments, applications, and prospects of cryo-electron microscopy

Xu Benjin et al. Protein Sci. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a structural biological method that is used to determine the 3D structures of biomacromolecules. After years of development, cryo-EM has made great achievements, which has led to a revolution in structural biology. In this article, the principle, characteristics, history, current situation, workflow, and common problems of cryo-EM are systematically reviewed. In addition, the new development direction of cryo-EM-cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), is discussed in detail. Also, cryo-EM is prospected from the following aspects: the structural analysis of small proteins, the improvement of resolution and efficiency, and the relationship between cryo-EM and drug development. This review is dedicated to giving readers a comprehensive understanding of the development and application of cryo-EM, and to bringing them new insights.

Keywords: 3D reconstruction; 3D structure; X-ray crystallography; cryo-electron microscopy; structural biology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Three Nobel Prize winners in chemistry in 2017 (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2017)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structure proportion of the three structural biology methods. Blue corresponds to structures determined by X‐ray crystallography, dark orange corresponds to structures determined by nuclear magnetic resonance, and gray corresponds to structures determined by electron microscopy
Figure 3
Figure 3
Timeline of key events in the development of cryo‐EM
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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