Rapid structural analysis of bacterial ribosomes in situ
Abstract Rapid structural analysis of purified proteins and their complexes has become increasingly common thanks to key methodological advances in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and associated data processing software packages. In contrast, analogous structural analysis in cells via cryo-electr...
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Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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Series: | Communications Biology |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07586-y |
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Summary: | Abstract Rapid structural analysis of purified proteins and their complexes has become increasingly common thanks to key methodological advances in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and associated data processing software packages. In contrast, analogous structural analysis in cells via cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) remains challenging due to critical technical bottlenecks, including low-throughput sample preparation and imaging, and laborious data processing methods. Here, we describe a rapid in situ cryo-ET sample preparation and data analysis workflow that results in the routine determination of sub-nm resolution ribosomal structures. We apply this workflow to E. coli, producing a 5.8 Å structure of the 70S ribosome from cells in less than 10 days and facilitating the discovery of a minor population of 100S-like disomes. We envision our approach to be widely applicable to related bacterial samples. |
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ISSN: | 2399-3642 |