Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 6, 2025
11:19
Multimodal Hierarchical Imaging of Serial Sections for Finding Specific Cellular Targets within Large Volumes
Published on: March 20, 2018
10.6K
Automated Tools to Advance High-Resolution Imaging in Liquid
G M Jonaid1,2,3,4, Michael A Casasanta2,3,4, William J Dearnaley2,3,4
1Bioinformatics and Genomics Graduate Program, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA.
Summary
Automated liquid electron microscopy (EM) enhances structural biology by streamlining specimen preparation, data collection, and analysis for macromolecules in solution. This approach provides high-resolution insights into biological structures, aiding human health research.
Area of Science:
- Structural Biology
- Microscopy Techniques
- Biophysics
Background:
- Liquid electron microscopy (EM) offers room-temperature structural insights into macromolecules in solution, complementing cryo-EM.
- Automation is increasingly vital for advancing high-resolution imaging techniques in structural biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the integration of automated tools into liquid-EM workflows.
- To showcase novel methods for specimen preparation, data collection, and computational analysis in liquid-EM.
- To highlight the application of these advances using Adeno-associated virus (AAV) and SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein as model systems.
Main Methods:
- Development of automated workflows for liquid-EM specimen preparation.
- Implementation of automated data collection strategies for imaging biological samples in liquid.
- Application of advanced computing processes for analyzing liquid-EM data of macromolecular complexes.
Main Results:
- Successful application of automated liquid-EM workflows to Adeno-associated virus (AAV) and SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein.
- Demonstration of high-resolution structural determination for both large, symmetric (AAV) and smaller, asymmetric (N protein) biological assemblies.
- Validation of the technical advances across diverse sample types with varying sizes and symmetries.
Conclusions:
- Automated practices significantly enhance the capabilities of liquid-EM for structural analysis.
- Liquid-EM, augmented by automation, provides powerful tools for decoding molecules relevant to human health and disease.
- The described workflows represent a significant advancement for the rapidly growing field of liquid-EM.
