Foldit Puzzles

1144: How low can you go? 10-residue Marburg binder design

This is the next in our series of Ebola/Marburg puzzles. We want you to design an ultra-small cyclic peptide to bind to and neutralize the Marburg virus glycoprotein. The glycoprotein is involved in viral entry into cells, and binding to a particular spot in the "head" region of this protein inhibits its interaction with human cells and abolishes its activity, neutralizing the virus.

1143: Revisiting Puzzle 93: Spider Toxin

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This small toxin is produced from the funnel-web spider A. aperta, and induces paralysis in insects by blocking calcium channels. This protein contains eight cysteines that oxidize to form four disulfide bonds. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been.

1142: Unsolved De-novo Freestyle 58

The structure of this protein is still unknown. Secondary structure predictions (from PSIPRED) are marked on the starting structure, and provide clues about where the protein might form helices and sheets!

1141: Revisiting Puzzle 92: Bacteria

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. In the struggle for limited resources, some strains of the bacteria E. coli produce a potent toxin to fight off competing strains. This small immunity protein protects the aggressor E. coli from falling victim to its own toxin. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been.

1140: 65 Residue Symmetric Dimer Design: Satisfied H-bonds

In this puzzle, the bonus for Hbond networks has been doubled, but only Hbond networks that are at least 75% satisfied will be rewarded. There are several other filters in effect; see the puzzle comments for details. The Baker Lab will run folding predictions on your solutions for this puzzle, and those that perform well will be synthesized in the lab. Remember, you can use the Upload for Scientists button for up to 5 designs that you want us to look at, even if they are not the best-scoring solutions!

1137: Two-component Abeta binder design

Note: The expiration date for this puzzle has been extended one week, to 09/27/2015 - 23:00.

1139: Revisiting Puzzle 91: Virus Protein

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This protein is found on the surface of bacteriophage fd, a virus that infects E. coli. It is responsible for penetrating the cell membrane of the host bacteria, allowing virus to enter the cell. This protein contains four cysteines that oxidize to form two disulfide bonds. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been.

1138: Unsolved De-novo Freestyle 57: Predicted Contacts

This is a follow-up puzzle for Puzzle 1135, now with Predicted Contacts to help guide your folding! See the blog for information on using the contact map. You can see the predicted contacts for this protein by clicking the Contact Map button in the Main menu (Selection Interface) or in the Actions tab (Classic Interface). You will notice that different contacts are shown in different shades of green, with brighter green contacts indicating stronger predictions. Players will be able to load in manual saves from Puzzle 1135 and use them as a starting point here.

1136: Revisiting Puzzle 90: Heliomicin

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This small disulfide-rich protein is produced by the moth H. virescens as a defense against certain bacterial and fungal infections. This protein contains six cysteines that oxidize to form three disulfide bonds. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been.

1135: Unsolved De-novo Freestyle 57

The structure of this protein is still unknown. Secondary structure predictions (from PSIPRED) are marked on the starting structure, and provide clues about where the protein might form helices and sheets!