Nitrogenase-Cutaway

thingiverse

This is a cut-away sectional of the enzyme nitrogenase. Nitrogenase is the method than diazotrophs (nitrogen fixing organisms) utilize to convert the nitrogen gas found in the atmosphere (~78% of the atmosphere is nitrogen) into ammonia that can be used to make fundamental building blocks such as proteins and DNA. It is not the entire protein (I am working on that as well), but is the section that houses the two unique metal clusters that are found in this component. I included the FeMo-cofactor with homocitrate and P-cluster, along with many of the amino acids that surround these two cofactors. This is a nice example of how nature has brought together very intricate clusters and arranged them to make a very nice catalyst. I finished my model and painted the various cofacters (sulfur yellow and iron green), along with some of the secondary structure. Really happy with how this one turned out. I painted the braces with a steel paint to indicate that they are not really part of the structure. Structure is based on the 1MIN protein data bank crystal structure. Model was manipulated in VMD, transferred to Tinkercad, where it was cleaned and the supports added. Instructions I printed this on a Makerbot Replicator 2. I did include a raft and supports. I also increased the size of mine to 150% the size of the original tinkercad version, so that it would be a little bit larger and more robust. I suggest you do the same if you attempt to print this. Warning, this was a 2 day (40 some hour) print at medium quality. I included quite a few braces, but with the new scaffolding (through the Makerbot software), it was only about an hour to remove this. I also used a modeling knife to clean everything up, and spent quite a bit of time painting mine, but I am very happy with it. I included some pictures. I'm doing several additional models similar to this of other important enzymes, and have a much larger project planned for this summer.