Automated structure refinement of macromolecular assemblies from cryo-EM maps using Rosetta

Cryo-EM has revealed the structures of many challenging yet exciting macromolecular assemblies at near-atomic resolution (3-4.5Å), providing biological phenomena with molecular descriptions. However, at these resolutions, accurately positioning individual atoms remains challenging and error-prone. Manually refining thousands of amino acids - typical in a macromolecular assembly - is tedious and time-consuming. We present an automated method that can improve the atomic details in models that are manually built in near-atomic-resolution cryo-EM maps. Applying the method to three systems recently solved by cryo-EM, we are able to improve model geometry while maintaining the fit-to-density. Backbone placement…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: STC-1231306
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01GM098672, GM110580, P50GM082250, 1P01GM111126