Algorithmic robustness to preferred orientations in single particle analysis by CryoEM

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107695
• Publication Date: 2021-01-09T13:29:24Z
• Authors: C.O.S. Sorzano; D. Semchonok; S.-C. Lin; Y.-C. Lo; J.L. Vilas; A. Jiménez-Moreno; M. Gragera; S. Vacca; D. Maluenda; M. Martínez; E. Ramírez-Aportela; R. Melero; A. Cuervo; J.J. Conesa; P. Conesa; P. Losana; L. del Caño; J. Jiménez de la ...; Y.C. Fonseca; R. Sánchez-García; D. Strelak; E. Fernández-Giménez; F. de Isidro; D. Herreros; P.L. Kastritis; R. Marabini; B.D. Bruce; J.M. Carazo
• Keywords: Informática; 0301 basic medicine; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Preferred orientations; Single Molecule Imaging; Single particle analysis; 03 medical and health sciences; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Electron microscopy; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Artifacts; Algorithms

The presence of preferred orientations in single particle analysis (SPA) by cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryoEM) is currently one of the hurdles preventing many structural analyses from yielding high-resolution structures. Although the existence of preferred orientations is mostly related to the grid preparation, in this technical note, we show that some image processing algorithms used for angular assignment and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction are more robust than others to these detrimental conditions. We exemplify this argument with three different data sets in which the presence of preferred orientations hindered achieving a 3D reconstruction without artifacts or, even worse, a 3D reconstruction could never be achieved.