Hydrogen properties and charges in a sub-1.2 A resolution cryo-EM structure revealed by a cold field emission beam

Abstract

The cold field emission (CFE) beam produces the less-attenuated contrast transfer function of electron microscopy, thereby enhancing high-resolution signals and this particularly benefits higher-resolution single particle cryogenic electron microscopy. Here, we present a sub-1.2 [A] resolution structure of a standard protein sample, apoferritin. Image data were collected with the CFE beam in a high-throughput scheme while minimizing beam tilt deviations from the coma-free axis. A difference map reveals positive densities for most hydrogen atoms in the core region of the protein complex including those in water molecules, while negative densities around acidic amino-acid side chains likely represent negative charges. The position of the hydrogen densities depends on parent bonded-atom type, which is validated by an estimated level of coordinate errors.