ß-globin becomes real in your students’ hands as they fold
mini toober fragments into a 3-D protein model of ß-globin. Your students will
discuss oxygen transport as they attach O2 to the iron in the heme group and
then explore how a single mutation causes sickle cell anemia.
This advanced protein-folding kit reinforces lessons
introduced in 3DMD’s Amino Acid Starter Kit, and then allows your students to explore
structure and function.
Small teams first focus on the structure of ß-globin by:
- Using folding maps to mark selected amino acids
(primary structure) and alpha helices (secondary structure)
- Folding the protein into its 3-D tertiary
structure, adding connectors for stability
- Assembling the 3 fragments together to form the
ß-globin protein
- Adding the heme group with an iron atom and O2
After exploring oxygen transport, your students can remove
the glutamic acid at position 6 on the ß-globin model and replace it with
valine. The single-point mutation from a negatively charged amino acid to a
hydrophobic one causes red blood cells to clump together and assume the sickle
cell shape.
The kit includes 3 mini toobers (red, green, and blue), 3
color-coded laminated folding maps, 4 color-coded bags (blue, green, red, and
yellow) containing parts to mark and connect the fragments in the 3-D protein
structure, 3 laminated Amino Acid Side Chain Charts and 3 wooden dowels. The
ß-Globin Folding Kit can be used successfully by 6 to 9 students working in 3
teams.