Conceptual representation of enzyme

thingiverse

Yet another model of the little Savinase protease enzyme. This time I've though hard and long about how to show the amazing setup of the catalytic triad, giving this enzyme the ability to cleave peptide bonds in other proteins. What I have done, is to cut a tunnel through the middle of the enzyme. Through this hole the guts of the enzyme structure is exposed in cartoon representation and on this skeleton, I've shown the catalytic triad (Asp32, His62, Ser221) as spheres. This model clearly shows the inner workings of this little enzyme. Modeled from the PDB-structure 1SVN. Instructions As with all complex structures, supports are required and the post print cleaning will be a pain! The internal cartoon backbone is very hard to clean out and especially the connection at the tip of the arrowheads of beta-sheets are very sensitive and break easily. This is a large print and when I printed it in 0.25 mm resolution, the print time was 22 hours. This model is rotated to minimize the support interaction with the tunnel wall and with the active site spheres nearest the bottom. But if you think another orientation is better, go ahead and rotate to your liking. Also, splitting the model would immensely help with the post printing, but I have not tested this.