2.3 Å Resolution Cryo-EM Structure of Human p97 and Mechanism of Allosteric Inhibition The protein p97 is an AAA adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) that uses energy from ATP hydrolysis to regulate substrates involved in intracellular protein quality control. Its role in this central process makes it a target for cancer chemotherapy. We used cryo-electron microscopy to determine high-resolution structures for…
Breaking Cryo-EM Resolution Barriers to Facilitate Drug Discovery Using cryo-EM we were able to capture images of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), an enzyme found in cells, at a resolution of 1.8 angstroms, a level of detail at which the structure of the central parts of the enzyme could be visualized in atomic detail. We also imaged two small proteins in…
2.2 Å Resolution Cryo-EM Structure of β-galactosidase in Complex with a Cell-permeant Inhibitor Recent advances in cryo–electron microscopy allow structures of large macromolecules to be determined at near-atomic resolution. So far, though, resolutions approaching 2 Å, where features key to drug design are revealed, remain the territory of x-ray crystallography. Bartesaghi et al. achieved a resolution of 2.2 Å for a…
Cryo-EM Structures Reveal Mechanism and Inhibition of DNA Targeting by a CRISPR-Cas Surveillance Complex Electron-microscopy images reveal how a CRISPR system marks specific DNA sequences for destruction. Microbes use CRISPR as a defense system to fend off viruses and other invaders, and geneticists have harnessed it to alter DNA sequences in a process called gene editing. We used cryo-electron microscopy…
