# Imaging large macromolecular complexes inside cells with electron cryotomography

> **NIH NIH R35** · CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2020 · $403,713

## Abstract

Project Summary
Research in my laboratory seeks to address the question of what large macromolecular complexes exist inside
cells and how their function is determined by their structure and location. To accomplish this goal, we use
electron cryotomography (ECT) to image native cellular structures in 3D inside intact cells, carrying out
structural biology in vivo. Projects in the lab fall into three categories: microbial cell biology, structural biology
of HIV, and cryo-EM methods development. The HIV work is complementary to our other projects in that it
drives and is driven by the same technology development, but it is funded separately. In microbial cell biology,
in the next five years we aim to advance our understanding of: (1) the architectures and relationships of
bacterial secretion systems; (2) the mechanisms of cell division across all three kingdoms of life; and (3) the
bacterial cytoskeleton and DNA-segregating filaments. Driving these projects, in cryo-EM methods
development, we aim to: (1) expand the throughput and automation of ECT; (2) apply cryogenic focused ion
beam-milling to expand the reach of ECT to any cell, regardless of size; and (3) use our ECT measurements to
inform the development of realistic coarse-grained models of biological processes to develop and test
mechanistic hypotheses.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9936168
- **Project number:** 5R35GM122588-04
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** GRANT J JENSEN
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $403,713
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-01 → 2021-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9936168

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9936168, Imaging large macromolecular complexes inside cells with electron cryotomography (5R35GM122588-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9936168. Licensed CC0.

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