Foldit Puzzles

2388: Electron Density Reconstruction 68

The structure of this protein has already been solved and published, but close inspection suggests that there are some problems with the published solution. We'd like to see if Foldit players can use the same electron density data to reconstruct a better model. This one is considerably smaller than the last puzzle!

2387: Revisiting Puzzle 124: PDZ Domain

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This domain is a component of many proteins involved in cell signaling. The protein is modeled here in reduced form, so no disulfides are expected to form. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been and to provide newer players with puzzles that are still scientifically relevant.

2386: CACHE SARS Nsp3 followup: Round 2

Compete in a challenge to design a drug targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Nsp3 macrodomain. Use the small molecule design tools and the compound library panel to find library compounds which bind to the active site of the enzyme. -- Only compounds which come from the Compound Library panel and get the Compound Library objective bonus will be experimentally tested.

2383: Electron Density Reconstruction 67- extended deadline (Use Trim Tool!)

The structure of this protein has already been solved and published, but close inspection suggests that there are some problems with the published solution. We'd like to see if Foldit players can use the same electron density data to reconstruct a better model. There are several chains in this protein, some are the same, some are different from each other. One of them is just a short peptide. Given its large size, the Trim tool may be very much necessary to make progress!

2385: CCHFV Protease Round 10

The Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a life-threatening zoonotic disease caused by a tick-borne virus. Recent research has revealed the significant role of the viral-encoded Ovarian Tumor (OTU) deubiquitinase in the CCHFV replication process. Based on the most promising compounds, this puzzle will focus on getting an inhibitor for this protein. As the CCHFV-OTU protease interacts with another protein (ubiquitin), the interaction surface is quite large and superficial, making it a challenging binding pocket. For this round we will be focusing on the upper binding pocket. We have also adjusted the objectives to accommodate larger small molecules, as one of our goals is to inhibit protein-protein interactions. In many cases, such inhibitors possess a higher molecular weight. For more details check out the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever blog post.

2384: CACHE SARS Nsp3 followup: Round 1

Compete in a challenge to design a drug targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Nsp3 macrodomain. Use the small molecule design tools and the compound library panel to find library compounds which bind to the active site of the enzyme. -- Only compounds which come from the Compound Library panel and get the Compound Library objective bonus will be experimentally tested.

2382: Revisiting Puzzle 117: Transport Mutant

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This small protein participates in electron transfer reactions in the cell. The protein is modeled here in reduced form, so no disulfides are expected to form. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been and to provide newer players with puzzles that are still scientifically relevant.

2381: CCHFV Protease Round 9

The Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a life-threatening zoonotic disease caused by a tick-borne virus. Recent research has revealed the significant role of the viral-encoded Ovarian Tumor (OTU) deubiquitinase in the CCHFV replication process. Based on the most promising compounds, this puzzle will focus on getting an inhibitor for this protein. As the CCHFV-OTU protease interacts with another protein (ubiquitin), the interaction surface is quite large and superficial, making it a challenging binding pocket. For this round we will be focusing on the lower binding pocket. We have also adjusted the objectives to accommodate larger small molecules, as one of our goals is to inhibit protein-protein interactions. In many cases, such inhibitors possess a higher molecular weight. For more details check out the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever blog post.

2380:Electron Density Reconstruction 66

The structure of this protein has already been solved and published, but close inspection suggests that there are some problems with the published solution. We'd like to see if Foldit players can use the same electron density data to reconstruct a better model. There are three chains in this puzzle of the same sequence, but not all the segments may be visible in the density. One of the chains will appear to be separated from the others, but this is actually a trick of the crystal symmtery.

2379: Revisiting Puzzle 115: Exocyst

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This protein is involved in the process of exocytosis, transporting proteins to the cell membrane or extracellular areas. The protein is modeled here in reduced form, so no disulfides are expected to form. We are revisiting old Foldit puzzles so we can see how useful the recent additions to the game have been and to provide newer players with puzzles that are still scientifically relevant.