Medical problems that have been currently emerging in the community, triggers people to learn about deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and proteins. In biology class of the 12th grade of senior high school, materials related to DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis have been introduced, but the topic of proteins has not introduced the existence of 2-dimensional (2D) and even 3-dimensional (3D) structures of proteins.
Therefore, an introduction to 3D structure of proteins needs to be given to students in the 12th grade of high school or Vocational High School of Pharmacy (SMKF) to further clarify the understanding of protein function. The Community Service Team of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia (FKUI ) encouraged high school students in Jakarta to recognize the 3D structure of Covid-19 spike protein. This introduction aimed to educate high school students about Covid-19 spike protein that is composed of 3 main structures and can be demonstrated using paper.
The FKUI Community Service Team consisted of lecturers from the Department of Medical Chemistry and the Department of Clinical Pathology, as well as students from the Master Program in Biomedical Sciences and Doctoral Program in Biomedical Sciences. They introduced the basics of chemical bonds, types of protein structures, protein databases, and SARS-COV-2 protein modeling using paper. This activity was held at SMAK 6 BPK Penabur Jakarta on (15/8) and at SMKF BPK Penabur Jakarta on (23/8).
In this community service activity, the participants learned interdisciplinary exploration of the biological and computational fields which were developed to understand the chemical bonds contained in biological interactions; protein structures from 1D to 3D shape; determination of the 3D structure of the protein; prediction of protein structure; and functional domain search.
The students also learned firsthand to make a paper model of one part of SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. There were three parts in the protein structure that were marked with different colors, namely for alpha helix using green, beta sheet in blue with an arrow, and coil in beige.
The socialization was attended by 90 students from SMAK 6 BPK Penabur Jakarta and 15 students from SMKF BPK Penabur Jakarta. After receiving the material, the students took a quiz on Mentimeter platform to measure their understanding of the material provided.
The Head of the Community Service Team Rafika Indah Paramita, M.Farm., Apt. said that the field of bioinformatics is a multidisciplinary branch of science that involves biology and computer science in studying information about biomacromolecules in living creatures. Bioinformatics utilizes computer technology to process, store, manipulate, and distribute information related to biomacromolecules, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins.
“We carried out community service activities by inviting students from SMAK 6 BPK Penabur Jakarta and SMKF BPK Penabur Jakarta with the hope that protein science will not only become something abstract, but we can also see visually the shape of its structure in three dimensions,” said Rafika.
Meanwhile, the head of the Department of Medical Chemistry FKUI Dr. Fadilah, S.Si., M.Sc. said that in the field of bioinformatics studies, knowledge of protein structure is very important because it will provide an understanding of its function, as well as how to control and modify proteins for biomedical research purposes.
