冷冻电镜技术的突破导致结构生物学发生革命性变化

Structural Biology Revolution Led by Technical Breakthroughs in Cryo-electron Microscopy

最近,冷冻电镜技术的突破引起结构生物学发生了革命。这一革命导致2017年诺贝尔化学奖授予对冷冻电镜技术发展做出开创性贡献的3位科学家Jacques Dubochet、Joachim Frank和Richard Henderson。本文将综述冷冻电镜的发展历程,导致结构生物学革命的冷冻电镜关键技术,包括电镜、图像记录装置和图像处理算法方面的突破,以及中国科学家应用冷冻电镜取得的重要科学成就,涵盖基因表达/调控、蛋白质合成/降解、膜蛋白、免疫、病毒等相关蛋白复合体。最后,对冷冻电镜的未来发展方向进行展望。

Recent technical breakthroughs in cryo-electron microscopy （cryo-EM） revolutionized structural biology, which led to the 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry award to three scientists Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson, who had groundbreaking contribution to the development of cryo-EM. In this review, I will give a comprehensive review on the development history of cryo-EM, the technical aspects of the breakthroughs in cryo-EM leading to structural biology revolution, including electron microscope, image recording device and image processing algorithm, and major scientific achievements by Chinese scientists employing cryo-EM, covering protein complexes involved in or related to gene expression and regulation, protein synthesis and degradation, membrane proteins, immunity and viruses. Finally, I will give a perspective outlook on the development of eryo-EM in the future.