Anti-inflammatory designs queued for testing!

Started by bkoep

bkoep Staff Lv 1

We've selected 100 of the most promising designs from Puzzle 1824 and Puzzle 1828, which will be synthesized and tested for binding to the IL-6 receptor (IL6R).

In our last blog post, we announced a similar experiment for binders to the coronavirus spike protein. (We had some issues getting the necessary materials for that experiment, but we've come up with a workaround and that experiment is back on track!) These latest designs will be tested using the same kind of experiment, using yeast display and flow cytometry techniques, but swapping in the IL6R target instead of spike protein. See our previous <a "https://youtu.be/iXguhcxDLI8">YouTube video</a> for more.

IL6R is a protein found on human immune cells, and plays a role in the "cytokine storm" that can cause dangerous inflammation in severe cases of COVID-19. A protein that binds to IL6R might be useful as a drug to temper this inflammation. We'll be testing these 100 Foldit player-designed proteins to see if they bind to the IL6R in a controlled lab setting. It will be several weeks before the experiment results come in, but we'll continue running more anti-inflammatory puzzles to try and develop even better designs.

Below are the 100 selected designs (click for full-size image). Remember to fill out our username sharing form if you want to see your username in Foldit updates!

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2009432_c0003 LociOiling 2009432_c0004 ZeroLeak7, puxatudo, Phyx, PLAYER_21, w1seguy, Bruno Kestemont 2009432_c0006 PLAYER_11 2009432_c0007 Skippysk8s 2009432_c0009 PLAYER_5, TheGUmmer 2009432_c0010 Galaxie 2009432_c0011 Phyx 2009432_c0012 CharlieFortsConscience, Bletchley Park, georg137, spvincent 2009432_c0014 g_b 2009432_c0016 Bruno Kestemont 2009432_c0017 w1seguy 2009432_c0020 georg137 2009432_c0022 PLAYER_7 2009432_c0025 Tehnologik1 2009432_c0026 PLAYER_3 2009432_c0029 ucad 2009432_c0030 Steven Pletsch, AntiVaccine 2009432_c0033 PLAYER_20 2009432_c0034 Crossed Sticks 2009432_c0042 PLAYER_10 2009432_c0044 Phyx 2009432_c0046 actiasluna 2009432_c0064 Scopper 2009432_c0069 PLAYER_1 2009432_c0074 krulon 2009432_c0085 gm82 2009432_c0090 PLAYER_16 2009432_c0092 spvincent 2009432_c0096 silent gene 2009432_c0101 PLAYER_4, spdenne 2009432_c0115 johnmitch 2009432_c0127 Migi 2009432_c0132 PLAYER_15 2009432_c0228 Migi 2009432_c0279 PLAYER_25 2009432_c0317 PLAYER_7 2009432_c0320 CharlieFortsConscience 2009432_c0341 NinjaGreg 2009432_c0353 jeff101 2009432_c0417 PLAYER_6 2009432_c0437 actiasluna 2009432_c0532 Joanna_H 2009432_c0667 ZeroLeak7 2009432_c0753 gm82 2009432_c0775 PLAYER_9 2009432_y1336 PLAYER_22 2009432_y1474 bertro 2009432_y3389 johnmitch 2009432_y6445 silent gene 2009432_y9574 Scopper

2009565_c0001 ZeroLeak7, Bruno Kestemont, mirp, RockOn 2009565_c0002 Mike Lewis, Formula350, Skippysk8s, actiasluna, Joanna_H, Jpilkington 2009565_c0004 fiendish_ghoul 2009565_c0005 mirp 2009565_c0011 Vinara 2009565_c0013 spmm 2009565_c0014 Ldupcz 2009565_c0015 ZeroLeak7 2009565_c0018 PLAYER_24 2009565_c0019 MurloW 2009565_c0024 PLAYER_12 2009565_c0025 Scopper, NinjaGreg, RockOn 2009565_c0028 dcrwheeler 2009565_c0030 Skippysk8s 2009565_c0031 PLAYER_24 2009565_c0033 fiendish_ghoul 2009565_c0037 stomjoh 2009565_c0043 PLAYER_13 2009565_c0044 spdenne 2009565_c0047 ichwilldiesennamen 2009565_c0048 PLAYER_4 2009565_c0056 krulon 2009565_c0058 jamiexq 2009565_c0060 ichwilldiesennamen 2009565_c0063 Mike Lewis 2009565_c0067 Bletchley Park 2009565_c0074 actiasluna, Formula350 2009565_c0075 Mike Lewis, Joanna_H, Jpilkington, ManVsYard 2009565_c0080 johnmitch 2009565_c0085 krulon 2009565_c0086 Galaxie 2009565_c0095 gm82 2009565_c0096 ichwilldiesennamen 2009565_c0097 Joanna_H 2009565_c0099 abiogenesis 2009565_c0103 jamiexq 2009565_c0112 PLAYER_3 2009565_c0115 actiasluna, Formula350 2009565_c0125 PLAYER_26 2009565_c0145 CAN1958 2009565_c0146 PLAYER_14 2009565_c0150 PLAYER_2 2009565_c0151 abiogenesis 2009565_c0158 PLAYER_12 2009565_c0177 GuR0 2009565_c0459 jawz101 2009565_y1631 silent gene 2009565_y1796 krulon 2009565_y1798 krulon 2009565_y2945 Amphimixus

Skippysk8s Lv 1

after we spent so long on monomers, dimers, trimers and more it is really cool to see them working in an applied fashion. And neat to see some non-traditional folds working too.

We'd all love feedback. I'm wondering how many sidechain bonds are enough versus shape conformancy. I'm personally better at the latter, but would like to know where I could improve

Thanks for all the hard work at the lab…

bkoep Staff Lv 1

Hmm, it's working okay for me. Can say more about what isn't working? Are you able to load the Google form, or are you unable to submit your responses? What browser are you using?

bkoep Staff Lv 1

We're sorry about the extra step, but we like to be careful about identifying the work of individual Foldit players. Lots of players have clearly expressed a preference for privacy.

Thank you for filling out the form! I've updated the post.

Scopper Lv 1

I think it was my internet connection. The link was not loading, but a few hours later it worked. Thanks for reply!

aofreelancer Lv 1

Well finally fold.it team started to work on testing some protein designs, still why noone from USA clinics with covid19 patients can provide samples with actual covid19 protein spikes?
I repeat in Germany we have lots and lots of organizations maybe we can arrange something there?

jawz101 Lv 1

I like how mine is the goofiest one. Why do we all end up doing 3 or 4 helixes? Maybe encourage anything but those shapes because they don't seem to represent much variety.