@article {48265, title = {Atomic-resolution structures from fragmented protein crystals with the cryoEM method MicroED.}, journal = {Nature Methods}, volume = {14}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Feb 13}, pages = {399-402}, abstract = {

Traditionally, crystallographic analysis of macromolecules has depended on large, well-ordered crystals, which often require significant effort to obtain. Even sizable crystals sometimes suffer from pathologies that render them inappropriate for high-resolution structure determination. Here we show that fragmentation of large, imperfect crystals into microcrystals or nanocrystals can provide a simple path for high-resolution structure determination by the cryoEM method MicroED and potentially by serial femtosecond crystallography.

}, issn = {1548-7105}, doi = {10.1038/nmeth.4178}, author = {de la Cruz, M Jason and Hattne, Johan and Shi, Dan and Seidler, Paul and Rodriguez, Jose and Reyes, Francis E and Sawaya, Michael R and Cascio, Duilio and Weiss, Simon C and Kim, Sun Kyung and Hinck, Cynthia S and Hinck, Andrew P and Calero, Guillermo and Eisenberg, David and Gonen, Tamir} } @article {48617, title = {MicroED structure of Au146(p-MBA)57 at subatomic resolution reveals a twinned FCC cluster.}, journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters}, volume = {8}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Oct 31}, pages = {arXiv:1706.07902 [physics.atm-clus]}, abstract = {

Solving the atomic structure of metallic clusters is fundamental to understanding their optical, electronic, and chemical properties. We report the structure of Au146(p-MBA)57\ at subatomic resolution (0.85 {\AA}) using electron diffraction (MicroED) and atomic resolution by X-ray diffraction. The 146 gold atoms may be decomposed into two constituent sets consisting of 119 core and 27 peripheral atoms. The core atoms are organized in a twinned FCC structure whereas the surface gold atoms follow a C2\ rotational symmetry about an axis bisecting the twinning plane. The protective layer of 57 p-MBAs fully encloses the cluster and comprises bridging, monomeric, and dimeric staple motifs. Au146(p-MBA)57\ is the largest cluster observed exhibiting a bulk-like FCC structure as well as the smallest gold particle exhibiting a stacking fault.

}, doi = {10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b02621}, url = {https://128.84.21.199/abs/1706.07902}, author = {Vergara, Sandra and Lukes, Dylan A and Martynowycz, Michael W and Santiago, Ulises and Plascencia-Villa, German and Weiss, Simon C and de la Cruz, Michael Jason and Black, David M and Alvarez, Marcos M and Lopez-Lozano, Xochitl and Barnes, Christopher O and Lin, Guowu and Weissker, Hans-Christian and Whetten, Robert L and Gonen, Tamir and Calero, Guillermo} } @article {47422, title = {The collection of MicroED data for macromolecular crystallography.}, journal = {Nature Protocols}, volume = {11}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 May}, pages = {895-904}, abstract = {

The formation of large, well-ordered crystals for crystallographic experiments remains a crucial bottleneck to the structural understanding of many important biological systems. To help alleviate this problem in crystallography, we have developed the MicroED method for the collection of electron diffraction data from 3D microcrystals and nanocrystals of radiation-sensitive biological material. In this approach, liquid solutions containing protein microcrystals are deposited on carbon-coated electron microscopy grids and are vitrified by plunging them into liquid ethane. MicroED data are collected for each selected crystal using cryo-electron microscopy, in which the crystal is diffracted using very few electrons as the stage is continuously rotated. This protocol gives advice on how to identify microcrystals by light microscopy or by negative-stain electron microscopy in samples obtained from standard protein crystallization experiments. The protocol also includes information about custom-designed equipment for controlling crystal rotation and software for recording experimental parameters in diffraction image metadata. Identifying microcrystals, preparing samples and setting up the microscope for diffraction data collection take approximately half an hour for each step. Screening microcrystals for quality diffraction takes roughly an hour, and the collection of a single data set is \~{}10 min in duration. Complete data sets and resulting high-resolution structures can be obtained from a single crystal or by merging data from multiple crystals.

}, issn = {1750-2799}, doi = {10.1038/nprot.2016.046}, author = {Shi, Dan and Nannenga, Brent L and de la Cruz, M Jason and Liu, Jinyang and Sawtelle, Steven and Calero, Guillermo and Reyes, Francis E and Hattne, Johan and Gonen, Tamir} }