Ribbons, filaments (fibers) and nanotubes are common structures in biological systems. They form by lipids, peptides and proteins, and are associated with many fundamental processes such as shaping membrane curvature, cell signaling, and protein function and dysfunction. Identical morphologies formed by natural or synthetic building blocks find numerous applications, e.g., in regenerative medicine, medical therapeutics, templating, catalysis and energy storage devices. Although the scientific context and chemistry of the building blocks may vary considerably, the forces that drive their formation, the local interactions, the structure and the morphology are closely related. Cryo-EM methodologies (Cryo-TEM in the colloid science community) have proven powerful in resolving structure-function-property relations of these macromolecular assemblies. The present review contains two main sections highlighting the unique cryo-EM contribution to understanding the global and the local features of nano-fibers, ribbons and tubes, as well as their detailed high-resolution structure.

带，细丝（纤维）和纳米管是生物系统中的常见结构。它们由脂质，肽和蛋白质形成，并与许多基本过程相关，例如塑造膜曲率，细胞信号传导以及蛋白质功能和功能障碍。由天然或合成构件形成的相同形态可发现许多应用，例如在再生医学，医学治疗，模板，催化和能量存储设备中。尽管构建基块的科学背景和化学性质可能相差很大，但驱动它们形成的力，局部相互作用，结构和形态却密切相关。低温电磁法（胶体科学界中的Cryo-TEM）已被证明在解决这些大分子组装体的结构-功能-性质关系方面很有效。