Self assembly of peroxiredoxin
Peroxiredoxins (Prxs, EC 1.11.1.15; pronounced per-oxy- red-ox-in) are a ubiquitous family of highly abundant antioxidant enzymes that protect all cells from free radical damage. They have an intriguing repertoire of self-assembled structures which helps modulate their activity inside cells and also provides an exciting scaffolding opportunity in vitro for nanotechnology applications.
This visualisation shows the assembly of monomers into dimers, dimers into rings, and rings into nanotubes. You can teleport with either touchpad, and you can adjust the pH by grabbing the handle above one of your controllers with the opposite controller (using the trigger on the underside) and moving it left or right. The pH controls the degree of assembly. You can pick up a monomer, dimer or ring, and you can break it into its smaller components by pulling it apart with two hands or shaking it while holding it (if it's a dimer or a ring).
You can re-order rings, or re-pair monomers by simply moving them closer - as monomers/dimers/rings will aim to pair with the closest object of the same type.
This simulation was developed by Nick Young and Bianca Haux at the Centre for eResearch at the University of Auckland in collaboration with David Doak, Norwich University of the Arts, Juliet Gerrard, and Michael Barnett from the University of Auckland School of Biological Sciences.