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Cryo-electron Microscopy

Cryo-electron Microscopy

Conventional electron microscopy (EM) involves dehydration, fixation, and staining of biological samples, which distorts the native state of biological molecules and results in several artifacts. Also, the high-energy electron beam damages the sample and makes it difficult to obtain high-resolution images. These issues can be addressed using cryo-EM, which uses frozen samples and gentler electron beams. The technique was developed by Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson, for...

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Measuring multisubunit mechanics of geometrically programmed colloidal assemblies via cryo-EM multi-body refinement.

Thomas E Videbæk¹, Daichi Hayakawa¹, Michael F Hagan¹

¹Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|September 9, 2025

Summary

Researchers developed a new method using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to measure the mechanical properties of self-assembling nanomaterials. This technique helps predict and control the behavior of complex nanostructures for advanced material design.

Keywords:

DNA origami colloid cryo-EM mechanics self-assembly

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Expression and Purification of the Human Lipid-sensitive Cation Channel TRPC3 for Structural Determination by Single-particle Cryo-electron Microscopy

Published on: January 7, 2019

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Expression and Purification of the Human Lipid-sensitive Cation Channel TRPC3 for Structural Determination by Single-particle Cryo-electron Microscopy

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Published on: January 7, 2019

Area of Science:

Nanotechnology
Materials Science
Biophysics

Background:

Programmable self-assembly enables complex structure creation via controlled interactions and geometries.
Understanding local flexibility in intersubunit connections is crucial for dynamic and functional assemblies.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate a method for inferring mechanical properties of multisubunit assemblies.
To analyze the impact of local flexibility on the collective mechanics of assemblies.

Main Methods:

Utilized cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and RELION's multi-body refinement.
Analyzed fluctuations of DNA-origami subunit dimers within self-assembled tubules.
Extracted mechanical properties like bending modulus and interparticle spring constant.

Main Results:

Successfully inferred mechanical properties of DNA-origami based nanostructures.
Applied extracted properties to elastic models, accurately predicting assembly outcomes.
Demonstrated alignment between model predictions and experimental observations.

Conclusions:

Developed a novel cryo-EM based method to characterize nanoparticle mechanics.
This approach facilitates refinement of subunit designs for precise assembly control.
Methodology has potential applications in studying protein assemblies and other nanomaterials.