2013 Three-Dimensional Electron Microscopy Gordon Research Conference

描述(由申请人提供)：该提案请求部分资金支持2013年戈登大分子三维电子显微镜研究会议(3DEM)，继续这一最成功的系列。三维电子显微镜(3DEM)提供了对生物大分子及其在健康和疾病中的组装的结构和机制的独特见解。与结构和分子细胞生物学中的任何其他技术不同，3DEM的范围非常广泛，从膜蛋白和重要病原体(如病毒和淀粉样原纤维)的近原子细节，到核糖体和蛋白质体等细胞器，再到整个细胞。细胞内的大部分蛋白质都被组装成复合体，而EM是研究大分子复合体的重要工具之一。一方面，它与X射线结晶学和核磁共振等技术以及光学显微镜等技术有很大的互补性。在这一领域不断取得进展，从硬件(如更好的探测器)到软件(如用于处理图像的新算法)，这些进展是本次会议的主要焦点。前18次会议的影响如此之大，以至于3DEM社区开始将这次戈登会议视为该领域最重要的科学活动。下一届3DEM GRC将于2013年6月在新罕布夏州举行。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests partial funding to support the 2013 Gordon Research Conference on Three- Dimensional Electron Microscopy of Macromolecules (3DEM), continuing this most successful series. Three- dimensional electron microscopy (3DEM) offers unique insights into the structure and mechanisms of biological macromolecules and their assemblies in health and disease. Unlike any other technique in structural and molecular cell biology, 3DEM spans an extraordinarily wide range, from near-atomic detail of membrane proteins and important pathogens such as viruses and amyloid fibrils, to cell organelles such as the ribosome and proteosome, and to whole cells. Most protein in the cell is assembled into complexes, and EM is one of the most important tools for studying macromolecular complexes. It provides a great deal of complementarity with techniques such as x-ray crystallography and NMR, on the one hand, and light microscopy, on the other. Continual advances have been made in this field, from hardware (such as better detectors) to software (such as new algorithms for processing images), and these advances are the main focus for this conference. The impact of the preceding 18 meetings has been such that the 3DEM community has come to regard this Gordon Conference as the most important scientific event in the field. The next 3DEM GRC will be held in New Hampshire in June 2013.