Abstract

Electron diffraction is a powerful tool for protein structure determination. Notably, it is possible to determine protein structures from nanometre-sized crystals, thus alleviating the need to optimise for large crystal growth. Although sample preparation, data collection and data analysis follow similar principles to those of X-ray diffraction, there are some key differences and challenges that must be considered when dealing with electrons. Ongoing research carried out at the Electron Bio-Imaging Centre (eBIC) will be used to illustrate this developing technique. Particular attention will be given to cryo-focused ion beam milling of protein microcrystals as a technique to produce nanometre-thick samples suitable for electron diffraction studies.