MEDIC-MicroED Imaging Center at UCLA

University Of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

MEDIC – MicroED Imaging Center at UCLA PROJECT SUMMARY The MicroED Imaging Center (MEDIC) at UCLA is a current Biomedical Technology Research Resource center devoted to the advancement and dissemination of the Microcrystal Electron Diffraction (MicroED) method. MicroED facilitates the determination of new previously unattainable structures at atomic resolution from vanishingly small crystals. MicroED exploits the strong interaction between electrons and nano-scale three- dimensional crystals and takes advantage of emerging cryo-EM instrumentation coupled to established crystallographic methods. We pioneered MicroED and established the current highly successful and innovative center in 2020. Since then, MEDIC trained over 1000 individuals, led to the establishment of robust pipelines and methods for sample preparation, data collection and reduction; provided sorely needed software to the community (which was downloaded >15000 times) and disseminated results in social media, workshops, peer reviewed papers and commentaries that collectively have been downloaded >83,000 times. MEDIC was heavily involved in dissemination of MicroED and training the next generation of practitioners through our highly successful community engagement programs. MEDIC collaborated with key technology partners to develop MicroED systems and currently two leading manufacturers are offering MicroED solutions based on the technologies we developed. We are proposing to transition the highly innovative and impactful MEDIC center to a Biomedical Optimization and Dissemination (BTOD) center. We outline comprehensive plans for MEDIC administration, three Technology Optimization and Dissemination projects (TOPs), applications through center selected Driving Biomedical Projects (DBPs), and a comprehensive Community Engagement effort, including several technology partnerships. The TOPs are focused on (1) Enhancing macromolecular MicroED through optimization of sample preparation methods, (2) Optimizing MicroED applications in chemical crystallography and drug discovery, and (3) transforming MicroED into a high throughput method through optimized automated data collection and processing procedures. These TOPs will directly interact with the carefully selected DBPs, which present unique and challenging samples that are impossible to study with any other approach. These DBPs will allow us to further optimize and refine the approaches in the TOPs. A strong and innovative community engagement program, including a new MEDIC Scholars Program, will help disseminated the technologies and provide training opportunities across all career stages and promote MicroED research in institutions located in IDeA states. MEDIC will continue its impactful work to ensure continued optimization of MicroED and dissemination of the method. MicroED will be democratized through innovative and extensive user training and support, and work with technology partnerships. Taken together we expect MEDIC to continue playing a pivotal role in optimization of MicroED technologies and dissemination to bring new and important structures to light.