Novel machine learning approaches for improving structural discrimination in cryo-electron tomography

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Project Summary Cellular cryo-electron tomography (Cryo-ET) has made possible the observation of cellular organelles and macromolecular complexes at nanometer resolution with native conformations. The rapid increasing amount of Cryo-ET data available however brings along some major challenges for analysis which we will timely ad- dress in this proposal. We will design novel data-driven machine learning algorithms for improving structural discrimination and resolution. In particular, we have the following specific aims: (1) We will develop a novel Autoencoder and Iterative region Matching (AIM) algorithm for marker-free alignment of image tilt-series to re- construct tomograms with improved resolution; (2) We will develop a saliency-based auto-picking algorithm for better detecting macromolecular complexes, and combine it with an innovative 2D-to-3D framework to further improve structure detection accuracy; (3) We will design an end-to-end convolutional model for pose-invariant clustering of subtomograms. This model will produce an initial clustering which will be refined by a new subto- mogram averaging algorithm that automatically down-weights subtomograms of noise and little contribution; (4) We will perform experimental evaluations by using previously reported bacterial secretion systems and mito- chondrial ultrastructures datasets to improve the final resolution. Implementing algorithms in Aims 1-3, we will develop a user-friendly open-source graphical user interface -tom to directly benefit the scientific community. -tom will be systematically compared with existing software including IMOD, EMAN2, and Relion on simulated and benchmark datasets. To facilitate distribution, -tom will be integrated into existing software platforms Sci- pion and TomoMiner. Our data-driven algorithms and software not only will facilitate and accelerate the future use of Cryo-ET, but also can be readily used on analyzing the existing large amounts of Cryo-ET data to im- prove our understanding of the structure, function, and spatial organization of macromolecular complexes in situ.