Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T06:19:12.830Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An Open-Source Storage Solution for Cryo-Electron Microscopy Samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2018

Eveline Ultee
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University of Leiden, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
Fred Schenkel
Affiliation:
Fine Mechanical Department, University of Leiden, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands
Wen Yang
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University of Leiden, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
Susanne Brenzinger
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University of Leiden, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
Jamie S. Depelteau
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University of Leiden, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
Ariane Briegel*
Affiliation:
Institute of Biology, Leiden University of Leiden, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
*
Author for correspondence: Ariane Briegel, E-mail: a.briegel@biology.leidenuniv.nl
Get access

Abstract

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) enables the study of biological structures in situ in great detail and to solve protein structures at Ångstrom level resolution. Due to recent advances in instrumentation and data processing, the field of cryo-EM is a rapidly growing. Access to facilities and national centers that house the state-of-the-art microscopes is limited due to the ever-rising demand, resulting in long wait times between sample preparation and data acquisition. To improve sample storage, we have developed a cryo-storage system with an efficient, high storage capacity that enables sample storage in a highly organized manner. This system is simple to use, cost-effective and easily adaptable for any type of grid storage box and dewar and any size cryo-EM laboratory.

Type
Micrographia
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banerjee, S, Bartesaghi, A, Merk, A, Rao, P, Bulfer, SL, Yan, Y, Green, N, Mroczkowski, B, Neitz, RJ, Wipf, P, Falconieri, V, Deshaies, RJ, Milne, JLS, Huryn, D, Arkin, M and Subramaniam, S (2016). 2.3 Å resolution cryo-EM structure of human p97 and mechanism of allosteric inhibition. Science 351, 871875.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castaño-Díez, D, Kudryashev, M, Arheit, M and Stahlberg, H (2012). Dynamo: A flexible, user-friendly development tool for subtomogram averaging of cryo-EM data in high-performance computing environments. J Struct Biol 178, 139151.Google Scholar
Dubochet, J, Adrian, M, Chang, JJ, Homo, JC, Lepault, J, McDowall, AW and Schultz, P (1988). Cryo-electron microscopy of vitrified specimens. Q Rev Biophys 21, 129228.Google Scholar
Dubochet, J and Mcdowall, A (1981). Vitrification of pure water for electron-microscopy. J Microsc 124, RP3RP4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grigorieff, N (2013). Direct detection pays off for electron cryo-microscopy. eLife 2, 24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heumann, JM, Hoenger, A and Mastronarde, DN (2011). Clustering and variance maps for cryo-electron tomography using wedge-masked differences. J Struct Biol 175, 288299.Google Scholar
Iancu, CV, Tivol, WF, Schooler, JB, Dias, DP, Henderson, GP, Murphy, GE, Wright, ER, Li, Z, Yu, Z, Briegel, A, Gan, L, He, Y and Jensen, GJ (2007). Electron cryotomography sample preparation using the Vitrobot. Nat Protocols 1, 28132819.Google Scholar
Kremer, JR, Mastronarde, DN and McIntosh, JR (1996). Computer visualization of three-dimensional image data using IMOD. J Struct Biol 116, 7176.Google Scholar
Kühlbrandt, W (2014). Cryo-EM enters a new era. eLife 3, e03665.Google Scholar
McDowall, AW, Chang, JJ, Freeman, R, Lepault, J, Walter, CA and Dubochet, J (1983). Electron microscopy of frozen hydrated sections of vitreous ice and vitrified biological samples. J Microsc 131, 19.Google Scholar
Nogales, E (2016). The development of cryo-EM into a mainstream structural biology technique. Nat Meth 13, 2427.Google Scholar
Oikonomou, CM, Swulius, MT, Briegel, A, Beeby, M, Yao, Q and Jensen, GJ (2016). Electron Cryotomography , 1st ed. London, UK: Elsevier Ltd.Google Scholar
Scapin, G, Prosise, WW, Wismer, MK and Strickland, C (2017). A novel storage system for cryoEM samples. J Struct Biol 199, 8486.Google Scholar
Scheres, SHW (2012). RELION: implementation of a Bayesian approach to cryo-EM structure determination. J Struct Biol 180, 519530.Google Scholar
Scheres, SHW (2014). Beam-induced motion correction for sub-megadalton cryo-EM particles. eLife 3, e03665.Google Scholar
Stuart, DI, Subramaniam, S and Abrescia, NGA (2016). The democratization of cryo-EM. Nat Meth 13, 607608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tang, G, Peng, L, Baldwin, PR, Mann, DS, Jiang, W, Rees, I and Ludtke, SJ (2007). EMAN2: an extensible image processing suite for electron microscopy. J Struct Biol 157, 3846.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tivol, WF, Briegel, A and Jensen, GJ (2008). An improved cryogen for plunge freezing. Microsc Microanal 14, 375379.Google Scholar

Ultee et al. supplementary material

Movie 1

Download Ultee et al. supplementary material(Video)
Video 69.6 MB