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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Sample Preparation using a Lipid Monolayer Method for Electron Crystallographic Studies
Published on: November 20, 2021
Electron crystallography of aquaporins
Simeon Andrews1, Steve L Reichow, Tamir Gonen
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Abstract:
Aquaporins are a family of ubiquitous membrane proteins that form a pore for the permeation of water. Both electron and X-ray crystallography played major roles in determining the atomic structures of a number of aquaporins. This review focuses on electron crystallography, and its contribution to the field of aquaporin biology. We briefly discuss electron crystallography and the two-dimensional crystallization process. We describe features of aquaporins common to both electron and X-ray crystallographic structures; as well as some structural insights unique to electron crystallography, including aquaporin junction formation and lipid-protein interactions.
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