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Allostery: Interactive Module

Cellular respiration is considered one of the most important physiological processes in biology, but remains one of the most difficult topics to teach to students at the undergraduate level. Complex topics such as cellular respiration are often introduced before students have a solid understanding of foundational biological principles. This lack of understanding can hinder the development of critical thinking abilities needed for integrating increasingly complex scientific information as students continue their studies.​


​The topics of allosteric regulation and feedback inhibition were presented in a manner that allowed students to build on prior information and transfer concepts to the specific context of glycolysis. Students first encountered a 2D animation reviewing feedback inhibition and allosteric regulation. Students then interacted with a 3D application that demonstrated these principles at the functional level by reviewing feedback inhibition within glycolysis. At the final level of detail, the application explored allosteric regulation at the structural level by examining the regulatory role of phosphofructokinase. The animation and interactive application were presented as an accessible online module.

Application run-through

PREPRODUCTION

Samples from the applicatin wireframe and 2D animation storyboard

PRODUCTION: OVERALL PROCESS

Glycolytic enzymes with resolved structures were first aggregated from the Protein Data Bank and modified in the Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD) software. Enzyme models were then exported to Pixologic ZBrush where they were retopologized for efficiency of geometry and performance. Enzymes and substrates were animated in Autodesk 3ds Max. The user interface elements were created in Adobe Illustrator. All assets were imported into Unity and scripted for interactivity. Finally, lighting and materials were applied within the Unity environment. The completed application was built out on the WebGL platform in order to be accessed online. For the 2D animation, all elements were created within Adobe Illustrator. Adobe After Effects was used for compositing and the finished animation was encoded with Adobe Media Encoder for deployment and integration into the online module.

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