Peering Into Viruses and Vaccines Using High-Resolution Imaging
Protochips is proud to host Prof. Deb Kelly and Dr. Mike Casasanta of The Kelly Lab located at the Center for Structural Oncology at Penn State for a webinar surrounding critical COVID-19 research completed with the Protochips Poseidon Select in situ Liquid Cell System for TEM.
As described by The Kelly Lab:
Liquid-Phase Electron Microscopy (LP-EM) is an exciting new area in the materials imaging field providing unprecedented views of molecular processes. Time-resolved insights from LP-EM studies are a strong complement to the remarkable results achievable with cryo-EM. Here, we will present new high-resolution structures and dynamic insights of human viruses contained in liquid droplets. We used gene therapy viral vectors as a model system due to their structural stability and potential as vaccine candidates for COVID-19. Improving our understanding of the physical properties of biological entities in a liquid state, as maintained in the human body, has broad societal implications for human health and disease.
As a complement to these results, we recently determine the first cryo-EM structure of the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid (N) protein. A novel antibody-binding site in the N structure revealed a hidden target that is 100% conserved in all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. This information may prove useful in developing next-generation therapies to battle COVID-19.
June 8, 2021 8:00 am PDT, 11:00 am EDT, 5:00 pm CET
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