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MicroED in natural product and small molecule research
Emma Danelius1, Steve Halaby, Wilfred A van der Donk
1Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California Los Angeles, 615 Charles E Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. tgonen@g.ucla.edu.
Natural Product Reports
|September 17, 2020
Summary
Microcrystal Electron Diffraction (MicroED) provides high-resolution structural data from tiny crystals. This electron cryo-microscopy technique is increasingly vital for natural product and small molecule research.
Area of Science:
- Structural Biology
- Biochemistry
- Natural Product Chemistry
Background:
- Electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) has advanced structural determination.
- Microcrystal Electron Diffraction (MicroED) emerged in 2013 for small crystals.
- MicroED has been applied to proteins and increasingly to natural products.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review MicroED achievements from 2013 to 2020.
- To highlight MicroED applications in natural product structure determination.
- To demonstrate MicroED's future impact on small molecule research.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing Microcrystal Electron Diffraction (MicroED) for data collection.
- Applying refined data collection and analysis schemes.
- Determining high-resolution structures from microcrystalline samples.
Main Results:
- Close to 100 structures have been determined using MicroED.
- MicroED has proven powerful for small systems, including natural products.
- Successful examples of natural product structure determination by MicroED exist.
Conclusions:
- MicroED is a powerful tool for structural analysis of small molecules.
- The technique shows significant promise for natural product research.
- Continued development will expand MicroED's impact in chemistry and biology.
