arXiv:2509.05541stat.MLcs.LG2025-09被引 1

将冷冻电镜重构视为概率分布的随机逆问题,实现连续构象变化的精准建模。

Cryo-EM as a Stochastic Inverse Problem

  • 用概率测度建模分子结构分布,通过随机正向算子模拟成像过程。
  • 基于Wasserstein梯度流与粒子演化,恢复出真实连续构象分布,合成数据验证有效。
  • 适用于有连续异质性的生物大分子研究,也为其他随机逆问题提供通用框架。

冷冻电镜(Cryo-EM)可实现生物分子的高分辨率成像,但结构异质性仍是三维重构的主要挑战。传统方法假设离散构象集合,难以捕捉连续结构变化。本文将冷冻电镜重建问题建模为概率测度上的随机逆问题(SIP),其中观测图像被视作未知结构分布经随机正向算子的推送结果。通过最小化观测与模拟图像分布间的变分差异(使用KL散度、最大均值差异等统计距离),在概率测度空间中进行优化,并采用Wasserstein梯度流数值求解,以粒子表示并演化构象集合。通过包含真实蛋白模型的合成数据验证,证明该方法能有效恢复连续结构状态分布。分析表明,最大后验估计(MAP)可视为离散化后优化(DTO)框架的特例。进一步给出一致性分析,确立了如MAP等DTO方法收敛至无限维连续问题解的条件。该框架不仅适用于冷冻电镜,也为含随机正向算子的随机逆问题提供通用解决方案。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) enables high-resolution imaging of biomolecules, but structural heterogeneity remains a major challenge in 3D reconstruction. Traditional methods assume a discrete set of conformations, limiting their ability to recover continuous structural variability. In this work, we formulate cryo-EM reconstruction as a stochastic inverse problem (SIP) over probability measures, where the observed images are modeled as the push-forward of an unknown distribution over molecular structures via a random forward operator. We pose the reconstruction problem as the minimization of a variational discrepancy between observed and simulated image distributions, using statistical distances such as the KL divergence and the Maximum Mean Discrepancy. The resulting optimization is performed over the space of probability measures via a Wasserstein gradient flow, which we numerically solve using particles to represent and evolve conformational ensembles. We validate our approach using synthetic examples, including a realistic protein model, which demonstrates its ability to recover continuous distributions over structural states. We analyze the connection between our formulation and Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) approaches, which can be interpreted as instances of the discretize-then-optimize (DTO) framework. We further provide a consistency analysis, establishing conditions under which DTO methods, such as MAP estimation, converge to the solution of the underlying infinite-dimensional continuous problem. Beyond cryo-EM, the framework provides a general methodology for solving SIPs involving random forward operators.

冷冻电镜随机逆问题构象异质性

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