These newly developed ultrastable gold supports for electron cryomicroscopy will reduce the movement of frozen specimens during imaging. This improves image contrast and quality leading to better 3D reconstructions with less data.
During imaging at cryo-temperatures, traditional carbon supports move, particularly at the beginning of irradiation. This movement blurs images and makes it difficult to determine the structures of small and challenging molecules.
Using UltrAuFoils®, designed at MRC's Laboratory of Molecular Biology by Dr. Christopher J. Russo and Dr. Lori A. Passmore and produced by Quantifoil Micro Tools, specimen motion can be reduced significantly. (For details see: Ultrastable gold substrates for electron cryomicroscopy, Science, 2014, Vol. 346 no. 6215 pp. 1377-1380).
Characteristics of UltrAuFoil®
| Thickness of gold foil |
|
About 500 Å |
| Structure of gold foil |
|
Regular square array of micrometer-sized circular holes |
| Available geometry |
|
R 1.2/1.3 (Other types available on request) |
| TEM grid |
|
Gold 300 mesh (Other grids available on request) |