Resource for the Visualization of Biological Complexity (RVBC)

EM animation Gallery

Snake toxin, natrin, binding to Ryanodine Receptor

Snake toxin, natrin, binding to skeletal muscle RyR1

This animation shows a snake toxin, natrin, binding to skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor. For more details see Zhou et al., Biophys. J. (2008) 95: 4289-4299. This work by Dr. Terence Wagenknecht is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

View/Download: Microsoft WMV version (size: 4 MB)

Sequence mappings in the cardiac muscle RyR2

This animation shows sequence mappings in the cardiac muscle RyR2 (ryanodine receptor) For more details see Jones et al., Biochem. J. (2008) 410: 261-270. This work by Dr. Terence Wagenknecht is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

View/Download: Microsoft WMV version (size: 8 MB)

Ryanodine Receptor Isoform 3 in Closed and Open States

Ryanodine Receptor Isoform 2 in Closed and Open States

This animation switches between open and closed configurations of the ryanodine receptor (isoform 3) to illustrate the structural rearrangements that occur during the transition. The ryanodine receptor functions as an intracellular calcium release channel in many cells, particularly excitable cells such as muscle. The lower part of the structure comprises the transmembrane regions of the receptor and the upper part is cytoplasmic. Movements of protein mass occur in both of these regions. The figures to the right show static views of the receptor in the two states. For more details see Sharma et al. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275:9485. This work by Dr. Terence Wagenknecht is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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Frozen-Hydrated Rat Liver Mitochondrion

3D model of the membranes in an isolated rat liver mitochondrion (0.7 micron diam. x 0.5 micron thick) embedded in vitreous ice by plunge freezing. Most of the cristae contained in this mitochondrion are represented. Towards the end of the clip, arrows point to 4 of the narrow openings that attach the cristae to the peripheral inner membrane. The model comes from Mannella et al. (2001) IUBMB Life, 52: 93-100. This work by Dr. Carmen Mannella is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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Elongation Cycle of Protein Biosynthesis

An animated display of the E. coli ribosome and its interactions with the tRNA and the elongation factors during the elongation cycle, in the course of which the polypeptide chain is elongated by the addition of one amino acid. The ribosome is represented by the experimental density map at 11.5 Å resolution (from Gabashvili et al. (2000) Cell 100, 537-549), while the tRNA and the elongation factors are represented by their space-filling atomic models. The positions of the ligands are based on cryo-EM reconstructions of various ribosome-ligand complexes; for details, see Frank et al. (1999), J. Struct. Biol., 128: 15-18. This work by Dr. Joachim Frank is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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The Ribosome: A Molecular Ratchet

The movie juxtaposes two cryo-EM density maps, one obtained from the ribosome bound with elongation factor EF-G in the presence of a nonhydrolyzable GTP analog, the other from the ribosome bound with P-site tRNA as a control. It is evident that the small subunit rotates with respect to the large subunit, and both undergo a major structural reorganization. The motion accompanies translocation, the process by which the tRNAs are moved from the A- and P- to the P- and E-sites, respectively, and mRNA is moved to the next codon. For details, see Frank and Agrawal (2000), Nature, 406: 318-322. This work by Dr. Joachim Frank is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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Spirochete Flagella

The movie shows a surface-rendered model of WT-10 cell end containing three flagellar filaments arising from basal bodies (blue), a periplasmic patella-shaped structure (light blue), a plate-like structure (green), and cytoplasmic filaments (yellow). The outer membrane is dark blue, and the cytoplasmic cylinder is purple. For details, see: Izard J,Hsieh C, Limberger R J, Manella C A, Marko M. Native cellular architecture of Treponema denticola revealed by cryo-electron tomography. J Struct Biol. 163: 10-17. doi: 10.1016/j.jsb.2008.03.009. This work by Dr. Jacques Izard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

View/Download: Microsoft AVI version (size: 13 MB)

Lyme Disease Spirochete Flagella

The movie shows a 3-D Isosurface reconstruction of part of a cell. Blue represents the plasma membrane, red represents the periplasmic flagella, and brown represents the outer membrane. For details, see: Charon N W, Goldstein S F, Marko M, Hsieh C, Gebhardt L L, Motaleb M A, Wolgemuth C W, Limberger R J, Rowe N (2009) The Flat-Ribbon Configuration of the Periplasmic Flagella of Borrelia burgdorferi and Its Relationship to Motility and Morphology. Journal of Bacteriology 2009, 191:600-607 This work by Dr. N. W Charon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

View/Download: Microsoft AVI version (size: 11 MB)