Structural Biology & Diabetes

2016 Video Challenge Awards

Winners | Entries | Judges | Overview | Learning Resources

Note: Videos are intended for communication and not rigorous scientific review.

Congratulations to the 2016 Winners:

Judge's Award First Place: Sweet Signals: Insulin and Glucagon in Diabetes

By Alexis D'Souza, Sruthi Katakam, and Nithilam Subbaian of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in Princeton Junction, NJ (Team Advisor: Matthew Foret)

Judge's Award Second Place: A Bird's Eye View of Pathways in You - Structural View of Insulin and Glucagon

By Gabby Stryker and Posy Stoller from La Jolla Country Day School, LaJolla, CA (Team Advisor: Susan Domanico)

Judge's Award Third Place: Types of Diabetes

By Alice Liu, Shayan Gupta, and Himali Patel of East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, NJ (Team Advisor: Anne Sanelli)

Viewer's Choice Award: It's Me, You, and Glucose

By Amber Figueroa, Kimberly Gardner, Shane Meledathu, and Emily Payamps of McNair Academic High School in Jersey City, NJ (Team Advisor: Chumki Gupta)

2016 Overview

For the third year in a row, the RCSB PDB invited high school students to create short videos that tell a story about the molecular view of sugar metabolism and it’s deficiencies that lead to diabetes. The entries were to focus on of the following topics:

Structural view of glucose transport:
Structural view of insulin/glucagon synthesis and signaling:
Type 1 vs. type 2 diabetes:
Complications caused by high blood glucose

Students were tasked to include a visualization/animation of at least one of the molecular structures from the 2016 Video Challenge Featured Structures List, and include a message “Know the risks” about factors contributing to problems with sugar metabolism.

2016 Dates

The video submission opened on March 8, 2016 and concluded on May 29, 2016. Award winners were announced at rcsb.org on June 14, 2016.

2016 Learning Resources

After you select your topic, choose at least one of the structures listed in the table below to help tell your story.

The Guide to Understanding the PDB Data is a helpful resource in understanding the protein structures better.

PDB ID	Brief Molecular Description	PDB Visualization Tips	Selected RCSB PDB Resources
Topic 1: Structural view of glucose transport
6gpb	Glycogen phosphorylase, the enzyme that releases glucose from glycogen	Show biological assembly¹	Molecule of the Month on: Glycogen phosphorylase Glycolytic enzymes
See the Molecule of the Month on Glycolytic Enzymes for PDB IDs selection	Glycolytic enzymes break down glucose for energy	4pfk, 4ald, 1zen, 3gpd, 3pgm, 1e58, 3a3w: show biological assembly¹ 1nqo: use this biological assembly file¹
4zw9	Glucose transporter 3 bound to D-glucose
Topic 2: Structural view of insulin/glucagon synthesis and signaling Topic 3: Type 1 vs. Type 2 diabetes
Insulin signaling
1trz	Human insulin hormone	Show chains A and B to show the monomer; use this biological assembly file¹ to show the hexamer	Molecule of the Month on: Insulin receptor Insulin Glucagon Insulin: paper model and activity Exploring the Structure of Insulin: visualization exercise Insulin and Dorothy Hodgkin (page from 2014 calendar)
2kqp	Proinsulin - precursor of insulin including the C-peptide	NMR Structure^2,, choose one structure from ensemble
3loh, 2mfr , 1irk 3w14 1ir3	Insulin receptor: 3loh is the insulin binding portion 2mfr is the transmembrane section 1irk is the kinase section 3w14 is the extracellular portion of the receptor with insulin bound 1ir3 is a phosphorylated insulin receptor's tyrosine kinase in complex with peptide substrate and ATP analog	3loh: delete chains A, B, C, and D as they are an antibody fragment; show biological assembly¹ 2mfr: NMR structure², choose one structure from ensemble 3w14: chain A and B are the insulin, chain E and F are the receptor; delete chains C, P, D, and Q as they are antibody fragment; show biological assembly¹
2auh	BPS domain of the growth factor receptor-bound protein 14 (Grb14) complexed with the tyrosine kinase of insulin receptor	Chain A is the tyrosine kinase domain, chain B is the BPS fragment
1rqq	SH2 domain of the adaptor protein APS in complex with the tyrosine kinase of insulin receptor	Chain A and B are the insulin receptor, chains C and D are the SH2 domain of the adaptor protein APS
Glucagon synthesis and signaling
1gcn	Glucagon hormone		Molecule of the Month on Glucagon SBKB Featured System Article on Glucagon Receptor
4ers, 4l6r 3iol	Glucagon receptor: 4ers is the extracellular domain (bound to antibody fragment) 4l6r is the membrane-spanning portion 3iol is a glucagon-like-peptide bound to glucagon-like receptor	4ers: remove chain L and H as they are antibody fragment 4l6r: remove residues 1001 through 1106 (part of a protein produced through gene fusion) 3iol: chain A is the glucagon-like receptor, chain B is the glucagon-like peptide
Topic 4: Complications caused by high blood glucose
4lp5	RAGE receptor (receptor involved in sensing glycated proteins)	Chain A is the cell surface portion and shows V domain (res 20-120), C1 domain (res 121-230), and C2 (res 238–321) domain; V domain recognizes Advanced Glycation End Products	Molecule of the Month on Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products
3b75	Example of a glycated protein (sugar attached to the end of the beta chains)	Use chains ABCD for one biological unit of hemoglobin