Foldit Puzzles

630: Quick Frozen Cutpoint Puzzle

We want to try out a very different kind of puzzle. The entire protein has been locked, and we need you to fit the pieces of this puzzle in the correct way. NOTE: CUTPOINTS CANNOT BE CLOSED FOR THIS PUZZLE. Have fun with this one! More details of why this type of puzzle could be useful in the comments.

628: Quick Freestyle Puzzle

This is a repost of Puzzle 626, but using the regular scoring function. Again, we are giving you this currently unsolved protein as an extended chain. Use all your skills to fold it up as best as you can. Secondary structure predictions are in the puzzle comments.

627: 30 Residue Symmetric Dimer of Dimers Freestyle

This is a small (30 residue) symmetric tetramer design puzzle; there will be four symmetric chains to manage. Symmetry becomes more complicated past three chains; for example, tetramers can be arranged in a ring (called "C4" symmetry) or as a dimer of dimers ("D2" or "two-by-two" symmetry). The dimer of dimers is much more common in nature, so we'll be exploring that type of symmetry first. Remember, a symmetric protein relies not only on how well-folded each chain is, but also on how well they interface together. This dimer of dimers has two fundamentally different interfaces: the interface between chains A and B, and the interface between dimer AB and its partner, CD. Stay tuned for higher-order symmetries; it only gets crazier from here!

626: Slightly Different Freestyle Puzzle

We are giving you this currently unsolved protein as an extended chain. Use all your skills to fold it up as best as you can. Unlike previous prediction puzzles, however, we are giving you a slightly different scoring function.

625: Sepsis Puzzle

Sugar molecules such as the one here are coated on the surface of many human pathogens. We are attempting to increase the protein-sugar binding interactions by extending a specific loop region of this protein. Please build upon this region, and extend it to make additional hydrogen bond interactions with the sugar. The best Foldit designs will then be used to generate potential pathogen capture reagents. Please read the blogpost for more info and if you are new to Foldit, make sure you have completed Intro Puzzle 5-2, and 7-1 through 7-4 before trying this puzzle.

624: Quest to the Native Alignment with Disulfides

This is a repost of Puzzle 548, but this time we are providing you with the native solved structure as a guide. Please note that the native has 3 disulfide bridges.

624 (<15): Quest to the Native Alignment with Disulfides

This is a repost of Puzzle 548, but this time we are providing you with the native solved structure as a guide. For players with fewer than 15 global points.

624 (<150): Quest to the Native Alignment with Disulfides

This is a repost of Puzzle 548, but this time we are providing you with the native solved structure as a guide. For players with fewer than 150 global points.

623: 40 Residue Symmetric Trimer Freestyle

This is a small (40 residue) symmetric trimer design puzzle. We saw some very interesting structures for the related 30 residue puzzle (Puzzle 595), but ten extra residues should make this a very different challenge. Remember, a symmetric protein relies not only on how well folded each part is, but also on how well they interface together - and a symmetric trimer can be thought of as having three 2-fold interfaces. Stay tuned for higher-order symmetries, like tetrahedra and octahedra!

621: Electron Density Puzzle 9

In this electron density puzzle, we're starting you with an extended chain. You'll have to use the electron density as a guide in order to find the correct fold. Try to find the best fit for the protein inside of the guide, while still maintaining a good fold. Get started by completing the electron density intro level (5-3).