Foldit Puzzles

551: Pre-CASP blind Alignment Puzzle 3

Here is another blind Template-Based Modeling target to work on. This target is 153 residues and we are again giving you the top-predicted template from 3 different alignment programs (you'll notice that two of them are identical templates, but slightly different alignments) The secondary structure predictions will be posted in the puzzle comments soon.

550: Pre-CASP blind Alignment Puzzle 2

To prepare for CASP 10 (which begins on May 1st) we want to practice for the Template-Based Modeling category by giving you some blind targets to work on. This template-based target is 102 residues and we are again giving you the top-predicted template from 3 different alignment programs (you'll notice that 2 of them are identical templates, but have different alignments) The secondary structure predictions are posted in the puzzle comments.

Foldit Player JackWeaver's solution for Puzzle 539

Blogpost about this: http://fold.it/portal/node/992498 . Instead of a Trp, a Met is placed inside the pocket which contributes to a favorable binding energy of the whole complex. The Trp is stacked against the hydrophobic proline loop of CTLA-4, which again makes it an interesting solution.

Foldit Player Mark-'s solution for Puzzle 539

Blogpost about this: http://fold.it/portal/node/992498 . A pretty creative solution where the Trp resides in the cavity and the Leu and Ile make nice hydrophobic contacts (and two backbone hydrogen bonds) with the three prolines in the loop of CTLA-4. This is especially relevant since these prolines make up a part of the native binding site.

Foldit Player Flagg65a's solution for Puzzle 539

Blogpost about this: http://fold.it/portal/node/992498 . This solution is also intriguing since it combined the use of a Leu interacting with the prolines from JackWeaver's solution and the Met inside the cavity from Mark-'s solution. Furthermore a nice stabilizing hydrogen bond is formed between the backbones of the Met & Tyr residues and a proline in the CTLA-4 loop.

Symmetry Preview: now with cutpoints!

This is a preview of one of the upcoming Symmetry Puzzles.

549: Beginner Immunotherapy Design Puzzle 2

We are giving you a 8 residue long helix that you are able to mutate & dock onto the native binding region which is indicated by the side chains that are allowed to shake. Try to look for favorable hydrophobic interactions and strong hydrogen bonds, while maintaining the helix! 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. More info in the Puzzle Comments.

549b Beginner Immunotherapy Design Puzzle 2 Repost

Due to the scoring change, we are reposting 549 and allowing you to load in your previous solutions from 549. Try to look for favorable hydrophobic interactions and strong hydrogen bonds, while maintaining the helix! 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. More info in the Puzzle Comments.

548: Pre-CASP blind Alignment Puzzle 1

To prepare for CASP 10 (which begins next week) we want to practice for the Template-Based Modeling category by giving you some blind targets to work on. This first template-based target is very short (only 36 residues) and we are giving you the top-predicted template from 3 different alignment programs (you'll notice that one of them is very different from the other two!) The secondary structure predictions are posted in the puzzle comments.

546: Quest to the Alignment Puzzle

In 542: Advanced Alignment Cutpoint Puzzle, we gave you an incorrect alignment to the best possible template. This time we are giving you the "best alignment" (according to our computers) to that same template, as well as a guide to the native. We are certain that you can still find a better alignment to match the native guide.