Call for papers - Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography of biological molecules

Guest Editors

Irina Gutsche, PhD, Institute of Structural Biology, France, and University of Umeå, Sweden
Slavica Jonic, PhD, CNRS and Sorbonne University, France
Daipayan Sarkar, MS, PhD, Michigan State University, USA

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 22 January 2025

BMC Methods is calling for submissions to our Collection on Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography of biological molecules. This Collection will highlight the latest developments in cryo-EM and cryo-ET. We welcome submissions covering diverse topics such as cryo-specimen preparation and imaging protocols, continuous conformational variability analysis, cryo-EM and cryo-ET studies of viral replication, infection mechanisms, and host-pathogen interactions, and applications in drug discovery, and more.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Irina Gutsche, PhD, Institute of Structural Biology, France, and University of Umeå, Sweden

Irina Gutsche graduated from the Paris Saclay University where she obtained a PhD in biophysics. She then turned to cryo-electron microscopy and performed her postdoctoral training at the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry with Prof Wolfgang Baumeister. Back in France, she first worked with Dr Felix Rey and Dr Jean Lepault in the Molecular and Structural Virology Laboratory in Gif-sur-Yvette, before joining the Unit of Virus Host Cell Interactions in Grenoble. Since 2015, she has been a PI in the Institute of Structural Biology in Grenoble, and in 2023, she was appointed Associate Visiting Professor at the University of Umeå.

Slavica Jonic, PhD, National Centre for Scientific Research and Sorbonne University, France

Slavica Jonic received the BSc and MSc degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Belgrade, Serbia in 1996 and 1999, respectively; the PhD degree in image processing from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland in 2003; and a Research Director Habilitation from the University Pierre and Marie Curie (currently Sorbonne University), Paris, France in 2015. In 2008, she was recruited as an Associate Scientist by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Currently, she holds a Research Director CNRS position and leads a group at Sorbonne University working on methods development for studying structure and dynamics of macromolecular complexes in vitro and in situ, by combining cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, molecular mechanics simulation, and artificial intelligence.

Daipayan Sarkar, MS, PhD, Michigan State University, USA

Daipayan Sarkar's research is in areas of computational biophysics and structural biology, where he develops integrative modelling workflows to establish the structure–function relationship of biomolecular ensembles. At MSU-DOE Plant Research Lab, using high resolution cryo-electron microscopy and tomography data, he performs multiresolution molecular simulations to study the transport and effect of photosynthetic metabolites across bacterial microcompartments. Trajectories from such simulations provide detailed mechanistic insight of metabolite transition across these 20–110 nm sized protein organelles and helps quantify the metabolite permeability across microcompartments in cyanobacteria, which to date remains poorly characterized.

About the Collection

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a powerful technique that allows for the visualization of biological specimens in their native hydrated state at cryogenic temperatures. By vitrifying samples, cryo-EM preserves molecular structures in near-native conditions, allowing for high-resolution imaging without the need for chemical fixation or staining. Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), a specialized application of cryo-EM, extends this capability into three dimensions and cellular samples. By collecting a series of tilt images of a vitrified sample, cryo-ET allows for the reconstruction of 3D volumes, providing detailed insights into the spatial organization of macromolecules and subcellular structures at the nanometer scale.

Advancements in cryo-EM and cryo-ET have accelerated in recent years, driven by innovations in imaging technology, sample preparation techniques, computational methods and image processing software and hardware. These developments have dramatically increased the resolution of 3D reconstructions at near-atomic resolution, a feat previously achievable only through x-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy. At the same time, they've enhanced the usability and applicability of cryo-EM and cryo-ET, enabling a deeper comprehension of cellular processes and disease mechanisms.

With these developments in mind, BMC Methods is opening submissions to this Collection on Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography of biological molecules.

Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

Cryo-EM techniques and methodologies
Cryo-specimen preparation and imaging protocols
Cryo-EM/ET sample heterogeneity
Cryo-ET reconstruction and missing wedge correction algorithms
Continuous conformational variability of biomolecules in cryo-EM and cryo-ET data
Artificial Intelligence for cryo-EM and cryo-ET data processing
Software development for cryo-EM and cryo-ET
Visualization of subcellular structures and macromolecular complexes
Applications of cryo-EM and cryo-ET in studying cellular processes
Integration of cryo-EM and cryo-ET with other structural and imaging techniques
Advances in cryo-FIB-ET for in situ structural biology
Insights into cellular ultrastructure and dynamics
Cryo-EM and cryo-ET studies of viral replication, infection mechanisms, and host-pathogen interactions
Cryo-EM and cryo-ET applications in drug discovery and development

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Methodology and Protocol Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography of biological molecules" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.