Glaeser Lab
Research Interest
We are interested in the use of electron microscopy for applications in structural biology. Our current research activities include (1) single-particle structure analysis of large, multi-protein complexes, which is part of LBNL’s “Protein Complex Analysis Project (PCAP)”, and (2) development of the novel technology of Zernike phase contrast in transmission electron microscopy.
Applications of in-focus phase contrast in electron microscopy will include (1) extending the scope of single-particle structure analysis to protein complexes as small as 200 kDa or less, (2) greatly improved morphological characterization of the “deconstruction” process of lignocellulosic materials by cryo-EM tomography, and (3) structural studies of membrane proteins within a “native-like” lipid bilayer environment, using single-particle reconstruction for purified proteins after reconstitution into lipid bilayers.
Selected Publications
Han BG, Dong M, Liu H, Camp L, Geller J, Singer M, Hazen TC, Choi M, Witkowska HE, Ball DA, Typke D, Downing KH, Shatsky M, Brenner SE, Chandonia JM, Biggin MD, and Glaeser RM (Submitted) Survey of large protein complexes in Desulfovibrio vulgaris reveals unexpected structural diversity.
Danev R., Glaeser RM, and Nagayama, K (2009) Practical factors affecting the performance of a thin-film phase plate for transmission electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy (In press).
Shatsky M, Hall RJ, Brenner, SE and Glaeser RM (2009) A method for the alignment of heterogeneous macromolecules from electron microscopy. J Struct Bio (In press).
Glaeser, RM (2008) Retrospective: Radiation damage and its associated "Information Limitations." J Struct Bio 163, 271-276.
Taylor KA and Glaeser RM. (2008) Retrospective on the early development of cryoelectron microscopy of macromolecules and a prospective on opportunities for the future. J Struct Bio 163, 214-223.
Glaeser RM. (2008) Macromolecular structures without crystals. PNAS 105, 1779-80.
Downing KH and Glaeser RM. (2008) Restoration of weak phase-contrast images recorded with a high degree of defocus: The "twin image" problem associated with CTF correction. Ultramicroscopy 108, 921-928.
Glaeser RM. (2008) Cryo-electron microscopy of biological nanostructures. Physics Today 61, 48-54.
Typke D, Gilpin CJ, Downing KH, and Glaeser RM (2007) Stroboscopic image capture: reducing the dose per frame by a factor of 30 does not prevent beam-induced specimen movement in paraffin. Ultramicroscopy 107, 106-115.
Garczarek F, Dong M, Typke D, Witkowska E, Hazen TC, Nogales E, Biggin M and Glaeser, RM. (2007) Octomeric pyruvate-ferredoxin oxidoreductase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris. J Struct Bio 159, 9-18.
Cambie R, Downing KH, Typke D, Glaeser RM, and Jian Jin. (2007) Design of a microfabricated, two-electrode phase-contrast element suitable for electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy 107: 329-339.
Yang C, Penczek P, Letith A, Asturias FJ, Ng EG, Glaeser RM and Frank J (2007) The parallelization of SPIDER on distributed-memory computers using MPI. J Struct Bio 157, 240-249.
Hohn M, Tang G, Goodyear G, Baldwin PR, Huang Z, Penczek PA, Yang C, Glaeser RM, Adams PD, and Ludtke SJ (2007) SPARX, a new environment for Cryo-EM image processing. J Struct Bio 157,47-55.
