Antibodies and vaccine research:
Cryo-EM is an effective technique to map the interactions between antibodies and antigens in biological drug and vaccine design studies. Near atomic resolution structures of entire viruses and virus-like particles are routinely achievable with this technique.
Characterisation of nanotechnology/drug delivery systems:
By providing structural information in conditions as close to native as possible, cryo-EM can support development and manufacturing programmes for the design of new drug delivery systems such as liposomes and dendrimers. Elucidating structure-function relationships during the design of macromolecular-based nanotech devices is also commonly achieved using this technique.
Drug discovery/rational design
Near-atomic resolutions can now be readily achieved using cryo-EM. These reveal not only the presence of, but also the mechanism by which, compounds bind with their protein targets. Cryo-EM has therefore become indispensable to pharmaceutical R&D groups wanting to investigate the structures of difficult to crystallise proteins. In addition, many membrane proteins of considerable therapeutic interest, such as channels and receptors, are readily amenable to solution by cryo-EM.
