Preparation of 2D crystals of membrane proteins for high-resolution electron crystallography data collection

Electron crystallography is a powerful technique for the structure determination of membrane proteins as well as soluble proteins. Sample preparation for 2D membrane protein crystals is a crucial step, as proteins have to be prepared for electron microscopy at close to native conditions. In this review, we discuss the factors of sample preparation that are key to elucidating the atomic structure of membrane proteins using electron crystallography.