Amino acid constellations within proteins visualized as their convex hulls. Deoxy Human Hemoglobin A Tetramer.

🧩 Breakdown of the Concepts

1. "Amino Acid Constellations":

   • Proteins are made of long chains of amino acids, which fold into complex 3D shapes.

   • A "constellation" isn't a standard biology term but a descriptive one. It refers to a specific, selected group of amino acids that you are interested in.In this post, amino acids of the same kind are shown in the 3D structure of the human deoxy hemoglobin A tetramer.

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2. "Convex Hulls":

   • This is the key concept from mathematics (computational geometry).

   • A convex hull is the smallest possible enclosing shape (a "container") that holds all the points in a set, with no "dents" or "caves."

   • 2D Analogy: Imagine you have several nails hammered into a wooden board. If you stretch a rubber band around the outside of all the nails, the shape the rubber band makes is the 2D convex hull.

   • 3D Analogy: Now, imagine your amino acids are small points floating in 3D space. The convex hull is like "shrink-wrapping" a plastic film tightly around the entire group. The 3D shape that film creates is the convex hull.

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