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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Visualization of ATP Synthase Dimers in Mitochondria by Electron Cryo-tomography
Published on: September 14, 2014
Coupling electron cryomicroscopy and X-ray crystallography to understand secondary active transport
Ching-Ju Tsai1, Christine Ziegler
1Biomolecular Research, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
Abstract:
In the past few years we have seen an amazing increase in the number of high-resolution structures for secondary transporters determined by X-ray crystallography, while 3D data obtained by electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) from two-dimensional (2D) crystals are only available at medium resolutions of about 6-10A. Despite their superior resolution, it turned out that the description of a molecular mechanism of secondary transport could not solely rely on high-resolution X-ray structures and have to be supplemented with biochemical and spectroscopic data. Moreover, the comparison of X-ray structures and 3D EM maps has proved to be an important tool for validating native conformations of several membrane proteins, especially when functional data contradicted predictions based on a crystal structure. In addition, 3D EM maps are better suited to investigate transporter activation because of the lipidic environment.
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