Date of Award

1-1-2009

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Biomedical Sciences

Content Description

1 online resource (vii, 128 pages) : illustrations (some color)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Joachim Frank

Committee Members

Rajendra Agrawal, Paul Masters, Terry Wagenknecht, Jacek Wower

Keywords

cryo-electron microscopy, ribosome, single-particle reconstruction, transfer-messenger RNA, transloaction, Proteins, Translocation (Genetics), Transfer RNA, Ribosomes

Subject Categories

Biophysics | Molecular Biology

Abstract

Single-particle reconstruction from cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) images is a widely used technique in studying the structure of macromolecular complexes. This technique allows the visualization of molecules in their native hydrated state. The heterogeneity of two-dimensional projection images, resulting from the co-existence of different states of a macromolecular complex, remains a major obstacle, as it impairs the validity of reconstruction and limits the progress toward higher resolution. On the other hand, co-existing structures, if successfully extracted from a single dataset, can provide valuable information about the equilibrium and dynamics of the biological system being studied.

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