Continuous heterogeneity analysis of CryoEM images through Zernike polynomials and spherical harmonics

摘要: The study of molecular flexibility is greatly evolving thanks to the improvements introduced in fields like Electron Microscopy and to the development of new and specialized software focused on the analysis of the movements macro-molecules undergo. The combination of all these tools and fields is allowing us to understand how these motions take place, which is essential to reveal how macro-molecules’ chemistry and structure meet to perform a specialized function in their environment.When studying conformational variability, it is possible to follow two different approaches depending on the scope of the analysis. In some cases, it is useful to analyze just a set of stable conformations recovered after a reconstruction process (discrete heterogeneity) while other studies focus on the analysis of the continuous motion a macro-molecule undergoes when it transitions among different transient and stable conformations …