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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Determination of Molecular Structures of HIV Envelope Glycoproteins using Cryo-Electron Tomography and Automated Sub-tomogram Averaging
Published on: December 1, 2011
3D visualization of HIV virions by cryoelectron tomography
Jun Liu1, Elizabeth R Wright, Hanspeter Winkler
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
None:
The structure of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and some of its components have been difficult to study in three-dimensions (3D) primarily because of their intrinsic structural variability. Recent advances in cryoelectron tomography (cryo-ET) have provided a new approach for determining the 3D structures of the intact virus, the HIV capsid, and the envelope glycoproteins located on the viral surface. A number of cryo-ET procedures related to specimen preservation, data collection, and image processing are presented in this chapter. The techniques described herein are well suited for determining the ultrastructure of bacterial and viral pathogens and their associated molecular machines in situ at nanometer resolution.
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