Cryogenic electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) enables the rapid freezing of samples, thereby preserving biomolecules in a nearly natural state. This technique provides highly accurate, undistorted images of biomolecules at near-atomic resolution. Image processing plays a crucial role in this process. Dr. Mingxu Hu has long been dedicated to developing theories and algorithms for Cryo-EM image processing. He has published numerous papers in top international journals such as Nature Methods, Journal of Structural Biology, Nature, Nature Microbiology, Nature Communications, and PNAS.
Dr. Hu proposed the CryoSieve particle selection method, which significantly enhances the resolution and efficiency of Cryo-EM, bringing its performance close to theoretical limits. He also introduced the use of quaternions for angle representation in Cryo-EM, providing a new perspective for accurately describing and processing molecular structures. Additionally, Dr. Hu was the first to propose and successfully implement precise per-particle phase transfer function correction, developing the corresponding software, THUNDER, which has markedly improved image processing accuracy.
Dr. Hu's research group is characterized by its wide-ranging interdisciplinary approach, integrating biology, mathematics, physics, high-performance computing, deep learning, and artificial intelligence. The group fosters an academic atmosphere of equality, openness, and inclusiveness, and is eager to welcome more researchers to join in advancing high-throughput structural analysis techniques in Cryo-EM. The aim is to combine high-throughput microscopy with deep learning for biomolecular structure prediction and rapid directed evolution, exploring scenarios for the industrial application of biomolecules.

2020     ShuiMu Scholar, Tsinghua University

2019     Excellent Research Award, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University

2018     Advanced Innovation Young Scientist, Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, Tsinghua University

Representative papers

1.Zhu, J.^*, Zhang, Q.^*, Zhang, H., Shi, Z.^#, Hu, M.^# and Bao, C.^#, 2023. A minority of final stacks yields superior amplitude in single-particle cryo-EM. Nature Communications, 14(1), p.7822.  (Top 25 Nature Communications physics articles of 2023).

2.Hu, M.^*, Zhang, Q.^*, Yang, J.^# and Li, X.^#, 2020. Unit quaternion description of spatial rotations in 3D electron cryo-microscopy. Journal of Structural Biology, 212(3), p.107601.

3.Hu, M.^*, Yu, H.^*, Gu, K.^*, Wang, Z., Ruan, H., Wang, K., Ren, S., Li, B., Gan, L., Xu, S., Yang, G.^#, Shen Y^#. and Li X.^#, 2018. A particle-filter framework for robust cryo-EM 3D reconstruction. Nature Methods, 15(12), pp.1083-1089.