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358 (<150): TNT Binding: Explosives made fun!

Closed since over 15 years ago

Intermediate

Summary

Created: September 01, 2010
Expires: September 10, 2010 at 23:00 UTC
Max points: 100

Description

We've got another TNT binding puzzle for you guys! This time it's in a periplasmic binding protein. These proteins are very interesting due to their use in signal transduction systems and because they're fairly dynamic. You'll notice that the protein has a "hinge" in the middle of it (you can imagine the middle of the protein opening up like pac man). This region actually bends back and forth, opening up the binding site and closing it. The goal here is to design the closed protein state such that the TNT ligand will "bridge the gap" and cause the protein to snap shut. The hints mentioned in the previous TNT puzzle still apply and will be repeated in the comments section. For players with fewer than 150 global points.