Structure determination of a DNA crystal by MicroED

Abstract

Microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) is a powerful tool for determining high-resolution structures of microcrystals from a diverse array of biomolecular, chemical, and material samples. In this study, we apply MicroED to DNA crystals, which have not been previously analyzed using this technique. We utilized the d(CGCGCG)2 DNA duplex as a model sample and employed cryo-FIB milling to create thin lamella for diffraction data collection. The MicroED data collection and subsequent processing resulted in a 1.10 [A] resolution structure of the d(CGCGCG)2 DNA, demonstrating the successful application of cryo-FIB milling and MicroED to the investigation of nucleic acid crystals.