Influenza Hemagglutinin Binder

This is an illustration showing an artificially-designed binding protein, HB36.3 (shown in blue), binding to and inactivating influenza hemagglutinin (shown in red), a viral surface protein that allows the virus to invade host cells.  For more about this protein, see the Baker Lab's 2011 Science paper, as well as the subsequent papers in J. Mol. Biol. and in Nat. Biotechnol.

Cartoon and surface models generated from Protein Data Bank model 3R2X were exported from PyMOL in OBJ format, cleaned up in Blender 2.68, re-exported in OBJ format, and imported to Maya 2014 for scene setup and lighting.  Occlusion, primary and secondary lighting, glow, and ambient passes were rendered with mental ray, and a final translucency and beauty pass was rendered with 3delight for Maya.  Final compositing was done in Photoshop CS5.1.

This image is not in the public domain.  You may not use it for any purpose without the express consent of the copyright holder.  Please message or e-mail me to obtain permissions.  Image copyright © 2013 Vikram K. Mulligan.