cymbal_king Lv 1
Having been a (novice) Foldit player myself I was aware of the potential utility of this powerful computational platform in modeling proteins even before I joined my current laboratory. When the topic of needing a structure for our protein came up in a meeting, of course Foldit was on the top of my mind. We hope that the players of Foldit can help us uncover the structural basis of Id2 activity and thereby inform the development of novel targeted therapies for Glioblastoma.
Inhibitor of DNA Binding 2 (Id2), a helix-loop-helix (HLH) protein, inhibits normal gene expression by binding and suppressing other transcription factors. Recent data from our laboratory show Id2 is a key protein in the pathogenesis of a subset of aggressive brain cancers (Glioblastoma). The structure of the HLH domain of Id2 is well characterized. However, the unknown terminal regions are very important for regulation of the protein. Having the structures for the terminal regions will help us understand how the regulation of Id2 alters its structure and function. This will help us identify regions of Id2, or proteins that
interact with Id2, which are important for degradation. We could use this knowledge to develop drugs that promote the degradation of Id2 to treat Glioblastoma.
Try out our Brain Cancer-Related Phosphorylated Id2 puzzle here. Thanks!
