Insulin acts as a hormone that regulates blood glucose levels. The video highlights how this massive structure exists as a stable, inactive hexamer in the pancreas before dissociation into biologically active monomers.
These spheroids pack in a hexagonal system (rhombohedral shape) to form a crystal. The packing creates a "threefold symmetry axis" (Zn ions).
Based on the provided search results, the video file "dv5020sup5.mp4" (associated with H21(1) in the context of symmetry) is a visual aid illustrating how a "giant asymmetric unit" behaves under symmetry operations in crystallography. H21(1).mp4
Animations, videos and 3D models for teaching space-group symmetry
Three of these dimer units are arranged around a threefold rotation axis to form a hexamer, which takes the shape of an oblate spheroid. Insulin acts as a hormone that regulates blood
The insulin dimer acts as the asymmetric unit within a crystal structure. It is a "giant" unit because it consists of hundreds of atoms.
The video dv5020sup5.mp4 shows the "action of symmetry operations on the asymmetric unit," specifically how the atoms move, rotate, or translate. Key Concepts Illustrated in the Video The packing creates a "threefold symmetry axis" (Zn ions)
This content is part of a pedagogical resource focusing on teaching crystallographic symmetry, with related, comprehensive information available on the Bilbao Crystallographic Server. How the ? A deeper look into rhombohedral/hexagonal crystal packing ?