The importance of cryo-electron microscopy for drug development
Release date: 2017-10-09
Yesterday, the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for their development. Cryo-electron microscopy technology to determine the molecular structure in a solution at near atomic resolution levels. The award was dubbed the Chemistry Prize awarded to physicists.
Researcher of the National Protein Science Center of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai) told the Liberation Daily and Shangguan journalists that before the development of cryo-electron microscopy technology, the biomolecules to be detected were covered with heavy metal salts at room temperature. Observed by electron microscopy, the resolution is low. After the cryo-electron microscopy technology was born in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the liquid ethane cooled by liquid nitrogen can be used to freeze the biological sample in milliseconds and preserve it in a glassy thin ice layer. Close to its natural form, and can effectively resist the radiation damage of electrons, laid the foundation for the development of cryo-electron microscopy technology.
Shen Qingtao, an assistant professor and researcher at Shanghai University of Science and Technology, told reporters that the big cattle in the field of cryo-electron microscopy won the Nobel Prize. "When I met them at the Gordon Conference, we predicted that they would this year. May have won the Nobel Prize, did not expect to come true." In the eyes of Shen Qingtao, these three scientists have their own contributions to the field of cryo-electron microscopy. Among them, British scientist Richard Henderson is the originator of cryo-electron microscopy, developed a three-dimensional reconstruction of cryo-electron microscopy, which has been active in this field; Swiss scientist Jacques Dubosh proved the cryo-electron microscopy technology for the first time. Feasibility; American scientist Joachim Frank is the founder of cryo-electron microscopy technology and is currently the core figure in the field of cryo-electron microscopy.
“After around 2013, the emergence of direct electronic detection cameras greatly promoted the development of cryo-electron microscopy, which increased the resolution level from 3 to angstroms to 1.8 angstroms, reaching atomic resolution. With direct electronic detection technology and cryo-electron microscopy With the development of hardware and reconfiguration computing technology, it is believed that the resolution will be further increased to 1.5 angstroms or higher," said Cong Wei, a researcher.
"Frozen electron microscopy is extremely important for the study of drug target structure." Zhao Qiang, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Liberation Daily and Shangguan reporters. Originally, because the microscope resolution was too low, they could not see how the drug acts on the molecule during the experiment. They can only be tested repeatedly and improved by guessing. Due to the recent major technological breakthroughs in cryo-electron microscopy technology, the development of drugs also requires a certain period of time. Currently, there are no drugs developed using cryo-electron microscopy technology. However, Zhao Qiang revealed that the Shanghai Institute of Drugs has begun to purchase instruments for cryo-electron microscopy. It is expected to be put into use after the arrival of the goods at the end of this year. In the future, using cryo-electron microscopy technology, it can be improved accordingly after seeing the drug effect, and the effect of the drug is stronger.
Source: Liberation Daily News
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