VitroJet: new features and case studies.
Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol
; 80(Pt 4): 232-246, 2024 Apr 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38488730
ABSTRACT
Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy has become a widely adopted method in structural biology due to many recent technological advances in microscopes, detectors and image processing. Before being able to inspect a biological sample in an electron microscope, it needs to be deposited in a thin layer on a grid and rapidly frozen. The VitroJet was designed with this aim, as well as avoiding the delicate manual handling and transfer steps that occur during the conventional grid-preparation process. Since its creation, numerous technical developments have resulted in a device that is now widely utilized in multiple laboratories worldwide. It features plasma treatment, low-volume sample deposition through pin printing, optical ice-thickness measurement and cryofixation of pre-clipped Autogrids through jet vitrification. This paper presents recent technical improvements to the VitroJet and the benefits that it brings to the cryo-EM workflow. A wide variety of applications are shown membrane proteins, nucleosomes, fatty-acid synthase, Tobacco mosaic virus, lipid nanoparticles, tick-borne encephalitis viruses and bacteriophages. These case studies illustrate the advancement of the VitroJet into an instrument that enables accurate control and reproducibility, demonstrating its suitability for time-efficient cryo-EM structure determination.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Specimen Handling
/
Membrane Proteins
Language:
En
Journal:
Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Netherlands