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Alden NA, Varano AC, Dearnaley WJ, Solares MJ, Luqiu WY, Liang Y, Sheng Z, McDonald SM, Damiano J, McConnell J, Dukes MJ, Kelly DF. Cryo-EM-On-a-Chip: Custom-Designed Substrates for the 3D Analysis of Macromolecules. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2019; 15:e1900918. [PMID: 30963664 PMCID: PMC6534443 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201900918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Revised: 03/25/2019] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The fight against human disease requires a multidisciplinary scientific approach. Applying tools from seemingly unrelated areas, such as materials science and molecular biology, researchers can overcome long-standing challenges to improve knowledge of molecular pathologies. Here, custom-designed substrates composed of silicon nitride (SiN) are used to study the 3D attributes of tumor suppressor proteins that function in DNA repair events. New on-chip preparation strategies enable the isolation of native protein complexes from human cancer cells. Combined techniques of cryo-electron microscopy (EM) and molecular modeling reveal a new modified form of the p53 tumor suppressor present in aggressive glioblastoma multiforme cancer cells. Taken together, the findings provide a radical new design for cryo-EM substrates to evaluate the structures of disease-related macromolecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick A Alden
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - A Cameron Varano
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - William J Dearnaley
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Maria J Solares
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - William Y Luqiu
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Yanping Liang
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Zhi Sheng
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
| | - Sarah M McDonald
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA
| | - John Damiano
- Application Science, Protochips Inc., Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | | | - Madeline J Dukes
- Application Science, Protochips Inc., Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | - Deborah F Kelly
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Center for Structural Oncology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
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