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The promise and the challenges of cryo-electron tomography - PubMed

Review

. 2020 Oct;594(20):3243-3261.

doi: 10.1002/1873-3468.13948. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

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Review

The promise and the challenges of cryo-electron tomography

Martin Turk et al. FEBS Lett. 2020 Oct.

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Abstract

Structural biologists have traditionally approached cellular complexity in a reductionist manner in which the cellular molecular components are fractionated and purified before being studied individually. This 'divide and conquer' approach has been highly successful. However, awareness has grown in recent years that biological functions can rarely be attributed to individual macromolecules. Most cellular functions arise from their concerted action, and there is thus a need for methods enabling structural studies performed in situ, ideally in unperturbed cellular environments. Cryo-electron tomography (Cryo-ET) combines the power of 3D molecular-level imaging with the best structural preservation that is physically possible to achieve. Thus, it has a unique potential to reveal the supramolecular architecture or 'molecular sociology' of cells and to discover the unexpected. Here, we review state-of-the-art Cryo-ET workflows, provide examples of biological applications, and discuss what is needed to realize the full potential of Cryo-ET.

Keywords: cellular structural biology; correlative light-electron microscopy; cryo-electron tomography; image processing workflow; sample preparation workflows; structural biology in situ.

© 2020 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

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