Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has become an
essential structural determination technique with recent hardware
developments making it possible to reach atomic resolution, at which
individual atoms, including hydrogen atoms, can be resolved. In this
study, we used the enzyme involved in the penultimate step of riboflavin
biosynthesis as a test specimen to benchmark a recently installed
microscope and determine if other protein complexes could reach a
resolution of 1.5 Å or better, which so far has only been achieved for
the iron carrier ferritin. Using state-of-the-art microscope and
detector hardware as well as the latest software techniques to overcome
microscope and sample limitations, a 1.42 Å map of
Aquifex aeolicus
lumazine synthase (AaLS) was obtained from a 48 h microscope session.
In addition to water molecules and ligands involved in the function of
AaLS, we can observe positive density for ∼50% of the hydrogen atoms. A
small improvement in the resolution was achieved by
Ewald sphere
correction which was expected to limit the resolution to ∼1.5 Å for a
molecule of this diameter. Our study confirms that other protein
complexes can be solved to near-atomic resolution. Future improvements
in specimen preparation and protein complex stabilization may allow more
flexible macromolecules to reach this level of resolution and should
become a priority of study in the field.