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General Information

Model ID

3DPX-015177

Category

Proteins, Macromolecules and Viruses

Keyword(s)

hemoglobin, TETRAMER, teaching, mold, Silicone

Protein Data Bank ID

1GZX

Here we provide the .STL files of the molds for the alpha and beta subunits composing the Hemoglobin tetramer (coming from 1GZX).

The model is in a ten million times (TMT) scale (see [1]).

The file can be imported in any slicing software to obtain the .gcode for your desired printer.

After printing the mold, you can use your silicone of choice to cast soft models of the alpha and beta monomers. The monomer surfaces have been processed by our algorithm to ensure easy and correct adhesion between the partecipating monomers along active sites. In the attached pictures you can see how well the monomer surfaces match together along the active sites, allowing easy assembly of the complete tetramer.

This work will be presented @ the Cell Bio virtual 2020 Poster Session https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/9251/presentation/3395

How to Make

Printer Technology/Material

Polylactic Acid (PLA)

Printer Make/Model

Ultimaker S5

Print Units

Pre- and Postprocessing Instructions

The .STL code refers to the two sides of the two chains molds. The molds are intended to be used for casting silicone replicas of the protein monomers.

Attribution

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.2312/stag.20191369

Author(s)

Thomas Alderighi, Daniela Giorgi, Luigi Malomo, Paolo Cignoni, Monica Zoppè

Citation Title

Computational Fabrication of Macromolecules to Enhance Perception and Understanding of Biological Mechanisms

Journal

Smart Tools and Apps for Graphics

Citation Year

2019

Abstract

We propose a fabrication technique for the fast and cheap production of 3D replicas of proteins. We leverage silicone casting with rigid molds, to produce flexible models which can be safely extracted from the mold, and easily manipulated to simulate the biological interaction mechanisms between proteins. We believe that tangible models can be useful in education as well as in laboratory settings, and that they will ease the understanding of fundamental principles of macromolecular organization.