Cryo-EM

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a key technique in structure-based drug discovery that allows the three-dimensional structure determination of biological macromolecules in near native conditions and provides information about their dynamics. Cryo-EM complements methods such as X-ray Crystallography and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and is particularly suited to targets such as:

• Membrane proteins (for example GPCRs, ion channels and transporters)
• Multi-domain proteins
• Multi-subunit protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes
• Antibody-antigen complexes

Our structural biology platform and expertise allows us to undertake a broad range of cryo-EM structure-based drug discovery projects, from small-scale feasibility studies through to gene-to-structure projects for both characterized and uncharacterized targets:

• Over 15 years of experience in producing samples for structural biology, including membrane proteins, multi-domain proteins and multi-subunit complexes
• Extensive biophysics platform for the screening and optimization of samples prior to grid preparation
• In-house sample preparation laboratory for the preparation of cryo-EM grids directly after purification
• Regular access to high-end cryo-electron microscopes (Glacios and Titan Krios) for screening and data collection
• State-of-the-art CPU and GPU servers as well as storage servers for the rapid processing of cryo-EM data