德国海德堡欧洲分子生物学实验室Julia Mahamid研究组，通过光微图案定制冷冻电镜栅格进行细胞内结构研究。这一研究成果11月18日在线发表在国际学术期刊《自然—方法学》上。

研究人员描述了用于细胞外基质相关蛋白位点特异性沉积的电子显微镜非接触式和无掩模的光微图案栅格。通过冷冻聚焦离子束铣削，研究人员获得了可用于显微机械加工的精确细胞定位。复杂微模式的产生可预测细胞内结构，从而将细胞结构与细胞内潜在分子机器的三维结构特征直接相连。

据了解，如何在空间控制细胞粘附在电子显微镜的支持物上，是制备细胞冷冻电子断层扫描样品的瓶颈。

附：英文原文

Title: Tailoring cryo-electron microscopy grids by photo-micropatterning for in-cell structural studies

Author: Mauricio Toro-Nahuelpan, Ievgeniia Zagoriy, Fabrice Senger, Laurent Blanchoin, Manuel Thry, Julia Mahamid

Issue&Volume: 2019-11-18

Abstract: Spatially controlled cell adhesion on electron microscopy supports remains a bottleneck in specimen preparation for cellular cryo-electron tomography. Here, we describe contactless and mask-free photo-micropatterning of electron microscopy grids for site-specific deposition of extracellular matrix-related proteins. We attained refined cell positioning for micromachining by cryo-focused ion beam milling. Complex micropatterns generated predictable intracellular organization, allowing direct correlation between cell architecture and in-cell three-dimensional structural characterization of the underlying molecular machinery.

DOI: 10.1038/s41592-019-0630-5

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-019-0630-5