Group leader : Irina Gutsche
Our group is interested in imaging macromolecular complexes and cells with the goal of gaining structural insights that would yield functional understanding of cellular processes. Our favourite imaging technique is cryo-electron microscopy in its variety of different flavours. We are using state-of-the art equipment available at the IBS EM platform and further afield, in particular at the Umeå Centre for Electron Microscopy (UCEM), in Sweden, to obtain images of our objects of interest. Once we have our images, we combine, adapt, and enhance available image analysis tools to solve the 3D structures of biomolecules. We synergistically apply complementary electron microscopy methods to explore biological samples with different levels of complexity.
While continuing to investigate the structure-function relationships of several macromolecular systems using ’traditional’ single particle cryo-EM, we develop technologies aimed at simultaneously solving structures directly in cell extracts. In parallel, we analyse increasingly complex reconstituted or semi-purified systems by cryo-EM, cryo-ET, and modelling approaches, and delve into the cellular interior using cryo-FIB milling, cryo-ET, correlative methods, and complementary imaging techniques, ultimately bridging structural and cell biology.