Applications of MicroED in structural biology and structure-based drug discovery

Abstract

Microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) is an emerging method for the structure determination of proteins and peptides, enzyme-inhibitor complexes. Several structures of biomolecules, including lysozyme, proteinase K, adenosine receptor A2A, insulin, xylanase, thermolysin, DNA, and Granulovirus occlusion bodies, have been successfully determined through MicroED. As MicroED uses very small crystals for structure determination, therefore, it has several advantages over conventional X-ray diffraction methods. In this review article, we discussed the most recent developments in the field of MicroED and its applications for the structural determination of different types of peptides, proteins, enzymes, DNA, and enzyme-inhibitor-complexed structures.