The determination of the atomic resolution structure of biomacromolecules is essential for understanding details of their function. Traditionally, such a structure determination has been performed with crystallographic or nuclear resonance methods, but during the last decade, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) has become an equally important tool. As the blotting and flash-freezing of the samples can induce conformational changes, external validation tools are required to ensure that the vitrified samples are representative of the solution. Although many validation tools have already been developed, most of them rely on fully resolved atomic models, which prevents early screening of the cryo-TEM maps. Here, a novel and automated method for performing such a validation utilizing small-angle X-ray scattering measurements, publicly available through the new software package AUSAXS, is introduced and implemented. The method has been tested on both simulated and experimental data, where it was shown to work remarkably well as a validation tool. The method provides a dummy atomic model derived from the EM map which best represents the solution structure.

中文翻译：

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使用溶液小角 X 射线散射验证电子显微镜图。


生物大分子原子分辨率结构的测定对于了解其功能细节至关重要。传统上，这种结构测定是通过晶体学或核磁共振方法进行的，但在过去十年中，低温透射电子显微镜（cryo-TEM）已成为同样重要的工具。由于样品的印迹和闪冻会引起构象变化，因此需要外部验证工具来确保玻璃化样品能够代表溶液。尽管已经开发了许多验证工具，但大多数都依赖于完全解析的原子模型，这阻碍了冷冻 TEM 图的早期筛选。在这里，介绍并实施了一种利用小角度 X 射线散射测量来执行此类验证的新颖自动化方法，该方法可通过新软件包 AUSAXS 公开获得。该方法已经在模拟和实验数据上进行了测试，结果表明它作为验证工具非常有效。该方法提供了一个从 EM 图导出的虚拟原子模型，它最能代表解决方案的结构。