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Cryoelectron Microscopy of Icosahedral Virus Particles

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Electron Microscopy

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology™ ((MIMB,volume 369))

Abstract

With the rapid progresses in both instrumentation and computing, it is increasingly straightforward and routine to determine the structures of icosahedral viruses to subnanometer resolutions (6–10 Å) by cryoelectron microscopy and image reconstruction. In this resolution range, secondary structure elements of protein subunits can be clearly discerned. Combining the three-dimensional density map and bioinformatics of the protein components, the folds of the virus capsid shell proteins can be derived. This chapter will describe the experimental and computational procedures that lead to subnanometer resolution structural determinations of icosahedral virus particles. In addition, we will describe how to extract useful structural information from the three-dimensional maps.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

    Wen Jiang

  2. National Center For Macromolecular Imaging, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

    Wah Chiu

  3. Verna and Marrs Mclean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

    Wah Chiu

Authors
  1. Wen Jiang
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  2. Wah Chiu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia

    John Kuo

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© 2007 Humana Press Inc.

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Jiang, W., Chiu, W. (2007). Cryoelectron Microscopy of Icosahedral Virus Particles. In: Kuo, J. (eds) Electron Microscopy. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 369. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-294-6_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-294-6_17

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-573-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-294-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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