Direct Detection and Atomic Modeling of Ligands in Cryo-EM Maps Using Deep Learning (opens in new tab)

Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has become an increasingly important for structure-based drug discovery by enabling characterization of interactions between macromolecules and small-molecule ligands. However, computational interpretation of ligand density remains challenging, particularly when ligand locations are unknown or local map resolution is limited. Existing methods generally require well-resolved macromolecular structures and predefined binding sites, limiting their applicabi...