Foldit Puzzles

811: Abeta Binder Redesign: Round 2

This is a follow-up puzzle to Puzzle 801b. We chose nine of the most promising solutions from that puzzle and added an extra beta-strand to each subunit of the Abeta binder—reset this puzzle to cycle through these nine starting structures. Like in Puzzle 801b, the Abeta protein backbone is frozen, and now you can mutate all residues in the binder subunits. Each chain has a separate RMSD condition, so only slight backbone movements will be tolerated, although you will be able to move the extra beta strand freely. This puzzle also includes a Residue IE filter, which monitors that all PHY, TYR, and TRP residues are scoring well. Remember, you can use the Upload for Scientists button for up to 3 designs that you want us to look at, even if they are not the best-scoring solutions. See the new blog entry about this puzzle for more information and a picture of the sort of backbone configuration that we're aiming for.

810: De-novo Cryo-electron Density: Round 2

This is Round 2 for Puzzle 807. You will be able to load in your manual saves from 807 and use them as a starting point here. This puzzle has been opened up to allow for sharing and the use of all scripts. NOTE: If you did not manually save a solution in puzzle 807, you can go back to 807, manually save it, and the solution should appear in your manual saves for this puzzle.

809: Revisiting Puzzle 85: Cell Adhesion Protein

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This protein is involved in the process of binding cells to each other and other structures. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been. Players will NOT be able to load in any previous solutions for these puzzles.

808: Abeta Binder Piecewise Design

This is a different type of design puzzle from those you are most familiar with. Instead of designing a single long chain, here you can design a set of short peptides as disjointed sections of a larger protein—we don't want you to worry about designing connections between the short chains in this puzzle. See the new blog post about this for more information. The Abeta protein backbone is frozen in this puzzle, but there are eight short chains that you can completely redesign. This puzzle also includes a Residue IE filter, which monitors that all PHE, TYR, and TRP residues are scoring well. Remember, you can use the Upload for Scientists button for up to 3 designs that you want us to look at, even if they are not the best-scoring solutions. Help us design a tight-binding protein for Abeta!

807: De-novo Cryo-electron Density: Hand-folding Round

Try to fit this extended chain into the cryo-EM density cloud to gain points. This round only GUI scripts are allowed and sharing has been disabled. After this puzzle expires, the puzzle will be re-posted and LUA scripts and sharing will be allowed. You'll be able to load in your solutions from this puzzle and use scripting and sharing.

806: Revisiting Puzzle 84: Giant Anemone

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. A protein from a giant green sea anemone. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been. Players will NOT be able to load in any previous solutions for these puzzles.

805: Ferredoxin Pentamer Design

In this puzzle you can redesign a protein that was originally designed in the Baker Lab. This ferredoxin-like fold is very stable as a monomer, and the Baker Lab is trying to redesign it to form a symmetric pentamer. The backbone is locked for most of the protein, but you can mutate surface residues to improve the pentamer interface. You can also design a 10 residue extension at the N- or C-terminus to improve the binding interface between monomer units; reset the puzzle to alternate between the extended N- and C-terminus versions. This puzzle also includes a Residue IE filter, which monitors that all PHE, TYR, and TRP residues are scoring well.

803: Revisiting Puzzle 715: Black Belt De-novo

This is a repost of Puzzle 715. When this puzzle ran in May of this year, the structure of this protein was still unknown. Now the structure has been published, and we're making the puzzle available for the Black Belt Folding broadcast! This puzzle will remain up for longer than usual so that players can practice their newly acquired de-novo skills. Players will NOT be able to load in any previous solutions for these puzzles.

804: Revisiting Puzzle 83: Cardiotoxin

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This toxin is found in cobra venom from Taiwan. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been. Players will NOT be able to load in any previous solutions for these puzzles.

801b: Abeta Binder Redesign

In this puzzle, you can redesign a protein that was found to bind Abeta, a peptide associated with Alzheimer's disease. See the blog post about this for more information. The Abeta protein backbone is frozen in this puzzle. The binding protein consists of two chains, in which you can mutate all but several loop residues. Each chain has a separate RMSD condition, so only slight backbone movements will be tolerated. This puzzle also includes a Residue IE filter, which monitors that all PHY, TYR, and TRP residues are scoring well. Remember, you can use the Upload for Scientists button for up to 3 designs that you want us to look at, even if they are not the best-scoring solutions. Help us design a tighter-binding protein for Abeta!