The collection of high-resolution electron diffraction data

Abstract

A number of atomic-resolution structures of membrane proteins (better than 3Å resolution) have been determined recently by electron crystallography. While this technique was established more than 40 years ago, it is still in its infancy with regard to the two-dimensional (2D) crystallization, data collection, data analysis, and protein structure determination. In terms of data collection, electron crystallography encompasses both image acquisition and electron diffraction data collection. Other chapters in this volume outline protocols for image collection and analysis. This chapter, however, outlines detailed protocols for data collection by electron diffraction. These include microscope setup, electron diffraction data collection, and troubleshooting.