Preferential orientation at the air-water interface (AWI) remains a persistent challenge in cryo-electron microscopy, often requiring extensive optimization or specialized grid preparation strategies....

Telomerase counteracts telomere shortening by repeatedly adding DNA repeats to chromosome ends. We identified the replication protein A (RPA) heterotrimer as a telomerase processivity factor critical ...

Sample loss due to air-water interface (AWI) interactions is a significant challenge during cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) sample grid plunge freezing. We report that small Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins, which naturally bind to AWI, can protect samples from AWI damage during plunge freezing. This protection is demonstrated with two LEA proteins from nematodes and tardigrades, which rescued the cryo-EM structural determination outcome of two fragile multisubunit protein complexes. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.