7plm

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Metalloproteins are involved in key cell processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, and oxygen transport. However, the presence of transition metals (notably iron as a component of [Fe-S] clusters) often makes these proteins sensitive to oxygen-induced degradation. Consequently, their study usually requires strict anaerobic conditions. Although X-ray crystallography has been the method of choice for solving macromolecular structures for many years, recently electron microscopy has also become an increasingly powerful structure-solving technique. We have used our previous experience with cryo-crystallography to develop a method to prepare cryo-EM grids in an anaerobic chamber and have applied it to solve the structures of apoferritin and the 3 [Fe4S4]-containing pyruvate ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) at 2.40 A and 2.90 A resolution, respectively. The maps are of similar quality to the ones obtained under air, thereby validating our method as an improvement in the structural investigation of oxygen-sensitive metalloproteins by cryo-EM.

Oxygen-Sensitive Metalloprotein Structure Determination by Cryo-Electron Microscopy.,Cherrier MV, Vernede X, Fenel D, Martin L, Arragain B, Neumann E, Fontecilla-Camps JC, Schoehn G, Nicolet Y Biomolecules. 2022 Mar 12;12(3). pii: biom12030441. doi: 10.3390/biom12030441. PMID:35327633^[2]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.