TMV is the first virus to be discovered and is found to be mostly made of protein. It is supposed to be very stable and can survive for years within a cigar or cigarette.
TMV’s helical shape kind of reminds me of tubulin and how it forms dimers to make microtubules. Though they do not form in quite the same way, they both have the ability to rapidly assemble and disassemble which reminded me of this origami paper tower below. It’s a dynamic structure that can be squished or stretched out (a decent representation of the rapid assembly/disassembly).
You guys should watch the PBS Nova episode called The Origami Revolution. A discussion about the origami-like folding of proteins begins at about 20:30 in the youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4R5LUGmH08