New Advances in CryoEM for Molecular and Cell Biology

Understanding how cells, tissues and whole organisms work requires visualizing protein, membrane and organelle ultrastructure in their cellular context.

Cryo-electron tomography provides 3D snapshots of proteins or other subcellular structures at work within their functional cellular environments, allowing researchers to investigate how membranes, protein complexes and cellular organelles work together to carry out major processes in a cell. This is because cryo-ET delivers both structural information about individual proteins/membrane/organelle structure as well as their spatial arrangements within the cell in their near-native states, making it a truly unique technique. Cryo-ET has enormous potential for cell biology as it bridges the gap between light/super-resolution microscopy and near-atomic resolution techniques like single-particle analysis cryo-electron microscopy.

In the past two years, Academia Sinica has established a state-of-the-art cryo-EM facility and proudly provides a world class platform for atomic resolution structures of purified proteins. Recently, we are establishing our cryo-correlative light (fluorescence) and electron microscopy (CLEM) and cryo-ET for cellular ultrastructures in situ. On Sep 8 and 9, Academia Sinica and Thermo Fisher Scientific invite you to attend an introductory session on cryo electron tomography for cell biologists. On-line demonstration will provide you an overall workflow and practical consideration for your cryo-ET experiments including steps from sample preparation to data processing and presentation.