Direct label-free imaging of nanodomains in biomimetic and biological membranes by cryogenic electron microscopy.

ABSTRACT: The nanoscale organization of biological membranes into structurally and compositionally distinct lateral domains is believed to be central to membrane function. The nature of this organization has remained elusive due to a lack of methods to directly probe nanoscopic membrane features. We show here that cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can be used to directly image coexisting nanoscopic domains in synthetic and bioderived membranes without extrinsic probes. Analyzing a series of single-component liposomes composed of synthetic lipids of varying chain lengths, we demonstrate that cryo-EM can distinguish bilayer thickness differences as small as 0.5 Å, comparable to the resolution of small-angle scattering methods. Simulated images from computational models reveal that features in cr

SUBMITTER: Heberle FA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7443941 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature