Graphene sandwich–based biological specimen preparation for cryo-EM analysis-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Graphene sandwich–based biological specimen preparation for cryo-EM analysis

Published:2024-01-22 Issue:5 Volume:121 Page:
ISSN:0027-8424
Container-title:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
language:en
Short-container-title:Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Author:

Xu Jie¹²^ORCID,Gao Xiaoyin³,Zheng Liming³,Jia Xia¹²,Xu Kui¹²^ORCID,Ma Yuwei⁴,Wei Xiaoding⁴^ORCID,Liu Nan¹^ORCID,Peng Hailin³⁵⁶^ORCID,Wang Hong-Wei¹²^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

2. Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

3. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

4. State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex System, Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

5. Beijing Graphene Institute, Beijing 100095, China

6. Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Abstract

High-quality specimen preparation plays a crucial role in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structural analysis. In this study, we have developed a reliable and convenient technique called the graphene sandwich method for preparing cryo-EM specimens. This method involves using two layers of graphene films that enclose macromolecules on both sides, allowing for an appropriate ice thickness for cryo-EM analysis. The graphene sandwich helps to mitigate beam-induced charging effect and reduce particle motion compared to specimens prepared using the traditional method with graphene support on only one side, therefore improving the cryo-EM data quality. These advancements may open new opportunities to expand the use of graphene in the field of biological electron microscopy.

Funder

MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China

Publisher

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Link

https://pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2309384121

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