This article describes a unique cryo-electron microscopy (CryoEM) facility to study the three-dimensional organization of viruses at biological safety level 3 (BSL-3). This facility, the W. M. Keck Center for Virus Imaging, has successfully operated for more than a year without incident and was cleared for select agent studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Standard operating procedures for the laboratory were developed and implemented to ensure its safe and efficient operation. This facility at the University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston, TX) is the only such BSL-3 CryoEM facility approved for select agent research.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3156611 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/153567601001500305 | DOI Listing |
Biophys J
January 2025
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 35 Convent Dr., Bldg. 35, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. Electronic address:
Dense-core vesicles (DCVs) are found in various types of cells, such as neurons, pancreatic β-cells, and chromaffin cells. These vesicles release transmitters, peptides, and hormones to regulate diverse functions, such as the stress response, immune response, behavior, and blood glucose levels. In traditional electron microscopy after chemical fixation, it is often reported that the dense cores occupy a portion of the vesicle towards the center and are surrounded by a clear halo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs) are claudin-like proteins that tightly regulate AMPA receptors (AMPARs) and are fundamental for excitatory neurotransmission. With cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) we reconstruct the 36 kDa TARP subunit γ2 to 2.3 Å, which points to structural diversity among TARPs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
Conjugation plays a major role in dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes. Following transfer of IncF-like plasmids, recipients become refractory to a second wave of conjugation with the same plasmid via entry (TraS) and surface (TraT) exclusion mechanisms. Here, we show that TraT from the pKpQIL and F plasmids (TraT and TraT) exhibits plasmid surface exclusion specificity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutophagy
January 2025
Life Sciences Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
The multi-step macroautophagy/autophagy process ends with the cargo-laden autophagosome fusing with the lysosome to deliver the materials to be degraded. The metazoan-specific autophagy factor EPG5 plays a crucial role in this step by enforcing fusion specificity and preventing mistargeting. How EPG5 exerts its critical function and how its deficiency leads to diverse phenotypes of the rare multi-system disorder Vici syndrome are not fully understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStructure
January 2025
Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Electronic address:
Deoxyhypusination is the first rate-limiting step of the unique post-translational modification-hypusination-that is catalyzed by deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH). This modification is essential for the activation of translation factor 5A in eukaryotes (eIF5A) and Archaea (aIF5A). This perspective focuses on the structural biology of deoxyhypusination complexes in eukaryotic and archaeal organisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!