Icon representing a puzzle

2737: Revisiting Puzzle 77: Copper Chaperone

Closed since about 2 months ago

Novice Novice Novice Novice Novice Novice Overall Overall Overall Overall Overall Overall Prediction Prediction Prediction Prediction Prediction Prediction

Summary

Created
March 11, 2026
Expires
Max points
100
Description

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This protein binds copper ions so that they may be transported safely to the cell compartments and enzymes that require them. The protein is modeled here in the reduced state, so no disulfides are expected to form. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been.

Sequence
AQEFSVKGMSCNHCVARIEEAVGRISGVKKVKVQLKKEKAVVKFDEANVQATEICQAINELGYQAEVI

Top groups

  1. Avatar for Anthropic Dreams
    1. Anthropic Dreams
    100 pts. 10,414
  2. Avatar for Go Science 2. Go Science 63 pts. 10,392
  3. Avatar for Void Crushers 3. Void Crushers 37 pts. 10,199
  4. Avatar for VeFold 4. VeFold 21 pts. 10,085
  5. Avatar for Contenders 5. Contenders 11 pts. 10,084
  6. Avatar for L'Alliance Francophone 6. L'Alliance Francophone 5 pts. 10,080
  7. Avatar for Australia 7. Australia 2 pts. 10,053
  8. Avatar for FamilyBarmettler 8. FamilyBarmettler 1 pt. 10,009
  9. Avatar for Eὕρηκα! Heureka! 9. Eὕρηκα! Heureka! 1 pt. 9,737
  10. Avatar for BOINC@Poland 10. BOINC@Poland 1 pt. 9,638
  1. Avatar for AlphaFold2 21. AlphaFold2 Lv 1 21 pts. 9,909
  2. Avatar for akaaka 22. akaaka Lv 1 19 pts. 9,907
  3. Avatar for gmn 23. gmn Lv 1 18 pts. 9,877
  4. Avatar for zxspectrum 24. zxspectrum Lv 1 16 pts. 9,877
  5. Avatar for dpmattingly 25. dpmattingly Lv 1 15 pts. 9,872
  6. Avatar for westchuck 26. westchuck Lv 1 13 pts. 9,848
  7. Avatar for nicobul 27. nicobul Lv 1 12 pts. 9,788
  8. Avatar for g_b 28. g_b Lv 1 11 pts. 9,787
  9. Avatar for BarrySampson 29. BarrySampson Lv 1 10 pts. 9,772
  10. Avatar for Savas 30. Savas Lv 1 9 pts. 9,737

Comments

Serca Lv 1

This protein functions as a vital intracellular copper chaperone, acting as a molecular escort that safely transports toxic, highly reactive copper ions through the cell. Structurally, this small protein folds into an "open beta-sandwich" architecture, but its true functional power lies in a highly conserved Cys-X-X-Cys motif located on a flexible loop. Within this motif, two cysteine residues act like chemical "handcuffs," using their sulfur atoms to tightly but reversibly bind a single copper ion, neutralizing its cellular threat before delivering the payload precisely to its target enzyme.