Le Cam E, Théveny B, Mignotte B, Révet B, Delain E
Laboratoire de Microscopie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, URA 147 and SDI6268 du CNRS, Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France.
J Electron Microsc Tech. 1991 Aug;18(4):375-86. doi: 10.1002/jemt.1060180406.
Electron microscopy offers a unique potentiality to visualize individual molecules. For the last 30 years it has been used to study the structure and the interactions of various biological macromolecules. The contribution of electron microscopy is important because of its capacity to demonstrate the existence of conformational structures such as kinks, bents, loops, etc., either on naked DNA, or on DNA associated with various proteins or ligands. Increasing interest was given to such observations when it was found that they provide a direct visualization of interacting molecules involved in DNA metabolism and gene regulation. Technical advances in the preparation of the specimens, their observation in the electron microscope, and the image processing by computers have allowed the shifting from qualitative to quantitative analysis, as illustrated by a few examples from our laboratory.
电子显微镜为观察单个分子提供了独特的可能性。在过去30年里，它一直被用于研究各种生物大分子的结构和相互作用。电子显微镜的贡献很重要，因为它有能力证明诸如扭结、弯曲、环等构象结构的存在，无论是在裸露的DNA上，还是在与各种蛋白质或配体相关的DNA上。当发现这些观察结果能直接呈现参与DNA代谢和基因调控的相互作用分子时，人们对它们的兴趣与日俱增。标本制备、在电子显微镜下的观察以及计算机图像处理等技术进步，使得从定性分析转向定量分析成为可能，我们实验室的一些例子就说明了这一点。
