Nature Communications (Dec 2021)

A cryo-electron microscopy support film formed by 2D crystals of hydrophobin HFBI

  • Hongcheng Fan,
  • Bo Wang,
  • Yan Zhang,
  • Yun Zhu,
  • Bo Song,
  • Haijin Xu,
  • Yujia Zhai,
  • Mingqiang Qiao,
  • Fei Sun

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27596-8
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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The amphiphilic low-molecular-weight protein hydrophobin (HFBI) can self-assemble into a crystalline monolayer film. Here, the authors present a cryo-EM support film using such 2D crystals of hydrophobin HFBI and show that it protects specimen from the air-water interface and can help to overcome the preferred orientation problem of particles in cryo-EM.