Illuminating the secrets of crystals: microcrystal electron diffraction in structural biology
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Published version
Author(s)
Barringer, Robert
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
X-ray crystallography (XRC) has visualised biological macromolecules in exquisite detail for over 50 years, relying on a combination of mathematical principles to offer insight into atomic structures. Crystals can diffract various elec-tromagnetic waves aside from the conventional X-ray, offering an alternative approach to crystallographic structural analysis. Microcrystal Electron Diffraction (MicroED) illuminates crystals with electron waves instead of X-rays. Two specialised groups have demonstrated that MicroED can give high resolution (often atomic) data, and now appears to be developing into a powerful alternative method to XRC or electron microscopy of macromolecules. How Mi-croED compares to XRC will be key to assessing it as a stand-alone crystallographic technique. This review presents a critical analysis of MicroED, with comments on theoretical and practical aspects and suggestions of further work and development.
Date Issued
2019-02-06
Date Acceptance
2018-11-26
Citation
Bioscience Horizons, 2019, 11, pp.1-12
ISSN
1754-7431
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
1
End Page
12
Journal / Book Title
Bioscience Horizons
Volume
11
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/biohorizons/article/doi/10.1093/biohorizons/hzy013/5256436
Grant Number
110068/Z/15/Z
WT110068/Z/15/Z
WT110068/B/15/Z
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-02-06