Protein field guide FoldLens Junior
Fifty well-studied proteins, one plain line each — a gentle warm-up before you open the 3D explorer. Every card is tagged to a NGSS Middle School Life Science idea. Nothing here needs a login, and nothing about you is collected.
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Insulin
Insulin tells your body to use sugar after you eat. Without it, sugar piles up in your blood.
Body as a system -
Hemoglobin (alpha)
Hemoglobin is the red stuff in your blood that grabs oxygen from your lungs and drops it off in your body.
Body as a system -
Hemoglobin (beta)
This piece pairs with alpha to make full hemoglobin. One tiny gene change in beta causes sickle cell disease.
Structure & function of proteins -
Green Fluorescent Protein
This protein glows bright green under blue light. Scientists glue it to other proteins to watch them work inside cells.
Structure & function of proteins -
Alpha-amylase
This enzyme in your spit chops starch into sugar. That is why bread starts to taste sweet if you chew it for a while.
Food, energy, and growth -
Antibody (IgG)
Antibodies are Y-shaped grabbers your blood makes to catch germs. They lock onto a germ and flag it for the cleanup team.
Body as a system -
Myoglobin
Myoglobin sits in muscle and holds onto oxygen until your muscle needs a burst. It is why steak is red.
Body as a system -
Collagen
Collagen is the rope that holds your skin, tendons, and bones together. It is the most common protein in your body.
Body as a system -
Keratin
Keratin builds your hair, fingernails, and the top layer of your skin. It is tough because its chains stack tightly.
Body as a system -
Actin
Actin links into long cables inside muscle cells. When myosin pulls on those cables, your muscle squeezes shorter.
Body as a system -
Myosin
Myosin is a tiny motor inside muscle. It uses fuel called ATP to walk along actin cables and pull them tight.
Body as a system -
Trypsin
Trypsin lives in your small intestine. It snips proteins from food into smaller chunks your gut can use.
Food, energy, and growth -
Pepsin
Pepsin works in your stomach where the acid is strong. It starts breaking down protein in food right away.
Food, energy, and growth -
Lactase
Lactase splits the sugar in milk into smaller pieces. Many people stop making it after childhood and feel sick from milk.
Genetic variation -
Catalase
Your cells make a chemical called hydrogen peroxide that can hurt them. Catalase chops it into water and oxygen, fast.
Inside the cell -
Lysozyme
Lysozyme is in your tears, spit, and snot. It pops open the walls of bacteria before they can make you sick.
Body as a system -
Serum albumin
Albumin floats in your blood and carries hitchhikers like fats and medicines around your body.
Body as a system -
Ferritin
Ferritin is a hollow ball that stores iron safely inside your cells until your body needs it.
Inside the cell -
Casein
Casein is the main protein in cow milk. It clumps into little balls that give milk its white color.
Food, energy, and growth -
Ovalbumin
Ovalbumin is the main protein in an egg white. When you cook an egg, its shape changes and it turns from clear to white.
Food, energy, and growth -
Cytochrome c
Cytochrome c hands off electrons inside the parts of your cell that make energy. No cytochrome c, no usable energy.
Inside the cell -
ATP synthase
ATP synthase is a real spinning motor inside your cells. Each spin builds a new pellet of ATP fuel.
Inside the cell -
Tubulin
Tubulin snaps together into long hollow tubes. Those tubes are the rails your cell uses to move things around.
Inside the cell -
p53
p53 watches DNA for damage. If it finds too much, it tells the cell to stop dividing — or to self-destruct.
Structure & function of proteins -
DNA polymerase
DNA polymerase copies your DNA before a cell splits. It also checks its own work and fixes mistakes.
Structure & function of proteins -
RNA polymerase II
This protein reads a gene in your DNA and writes a matching RNA copy. The cell uses that copy to build a protein.
Structure & function of proteins -
Histone H3
Histones are spools that DNA wraps around. Without them, your DNA would not fit inside the cell.
Structure & function of proteins -
Ribosomal protein S6
A ribosome is a tiny factory that builds proteins. S6 is one bolt that holds the factory together.
Inside the cell -
CRISPR Cas9
Cas9 is a scissors protein that bacteria use against viruses. Scientists turned it into a tool to edit DNA on purpose.
Structure & function of proteins -
SARS-CoV-2 spike
The spike is the crown on the coronavirus. It locks onto a protein on your cells so the virus can sneak in.
Structure & function of proteins -
ACE2
ACE2 sits on the outside of your cells and helps control blood pressure. It is also what the COVID spike grabs.
Body as a system -
Rhodopsin
Rhodopsin lives in the back of your eye. When light hits it, it bends, and that bend tells your brain you saw something.
Body as a system -
Aquaporin-1
Aquaporins are water channels in the thin membrane around your cells. They let water rush in and out without letting salt or sugar through.
Body as a system -
Dopamine D2 receptor
This protein catches a brain signal called dopamine. The signal matters for movement and reward.
Body as a system -
Acetylcholinesterase
Your nerves send a signal called acetylcholine to your muscles. This enzyme chops it back up so the signal turns off.
Body as a system -
Hexokinase
Hexokinase is the first step when your cell burns sugar for energy. It tags glucose so it cannot escape the cell.
Food, energy, and growth -
GLUT4 (glucose transporter)
GLUT4 is a sugar door on your muscle and fat cells. Insulin tells it to open after you eat.
Body as a system -
Sodium-potassium pump
This pump uses fuel to push sodium out of your cell and pull potassium in. Your nerves and muscles need this gap to work.
Body as a system -
CFTR
CFTR is a salt channel on lung and gut cells. A broken CFTR causes cystic fibrosis, a lung and digestion disease.
Structure & function of proteins -
Tyrosinase
Tyrosinase makes the brown pigment in your skin, hair, and eyes. Different gene versions make different amounts.
Structure & function of proteins -
Lactoferrin
Lactoferrin in milk and tears grabs iron away from germs. Germs need iron to grow, so this slows them down.
Body as a system -
Beta-lactoglobulin
This is the main whey protein in cow milk. It is one of the proteins that some people are allergic to.
Food, energy, and growth -
Silk fibroin
Silkworms spin their cocoon out of fibroin. It packs into tight sheets, which is why silk thread is so strong.
Inside the cell -
Antifreeze protein (type I)
Some fish in icy water make this protein. It grabs onto baby ice crystals so they cannot grow big enough to hurt the fish.
Structure & function of proteins -
Firefly luciferase
Luciferase is the enzyme that makes a firefly's tail glow. It uses ATP fuel to turn a chemical called luciferin into light.
Inside the cell -
Alpha-crystallin A
This protein packs tightly into your eye lens so it stays clear. As we get older, it slowly tangles, and lenses can cloud over.
Body as a system -
Hemagglutinin (H1N1 flu)
Hemagglutinin is the spike on flu viruses. It grabs onto cells in your nose and throat so the virus can get in.
Structure & function of proteins -
RuBisCO
RuBisCO is how plants grab carbon out of the air to build sugar. It is part of the engine of photosynthesis.
Food, energy, and growth -
Aldolase A
Aldolase is a sugar-cutter. It splits a six-carbon sugar in half so your cells can keep pulling energy out of it.
Food, energy, and growth -
Growth hormone
Growth hormone is a signal from a gland in your brain. It tells your body, especially during sleep, to grow taller.
Body as a system
Card art is a Fold Commons placeholder; illustrated cards in the Spark & Anvil house style land as they are produced. This guide is a warm-up — the science lives in the 3D explorer.