Foldit Puzzles

2677: Revisiting Puzzle 55: Scorpion Toxin

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This scorpion toxin binds to voltage-gated ion channels in insects, resulting in full-body paralysis. The protein contains eight cysteine residues 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 and to provide newer players with problems that are still scientifically relevant.

2676: NaV1.7 Round 8

NaV1.7 is a voltage-gated sodium channel that plays a key role in the generation and propagation of action potentials, especially in neurons involved in pain signaling. Genetic studies have revealed that loss-of-function mutations in NaV1.7 can result in congenital insensitivity to pain, while gain-of-function mutations are associated with severe, painful disorders. This makes NaV1.7 a promising therapeutic target for the development of non-addictive painkillers—a much-needed alternative to current opioid-based treatments.

2675: Electron Density Reconstruction 140

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 puzzle has a large protein, and a small bit of DNA, and the Trim tool is highly recommended.

2674: Revisiting Puzzle 54: Human Fyn

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This kinase protein is part of a human signaling pathway that controls cell growth. 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.

2673: NaV1.7 Round 7

NaV1.7 is a voltage-gated sodium channel that plays a key role in the generation and propagation of action potentials, especially in neurons involved in pain signaling. Genetic studies have revealed that loss-of-function mutations in NaV1.7 can result in congenital insensitivity to pain, while gain-of-function mutations are associated with severe, painful disorders. This makes NaV1.7 a promising therapeutic target for the development of non-addictive painkillers—a much-needed alternative to current opioid-based treatments.

2672b: Electron Density Reconstruction 139

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.

2671: Revisiting Puzzle 52: Bacteria Energy

This is a throwback puzzle to the early days of Foldit. This protein is part of a metabolic pathway used by bacteria to harvest energy from sugars. 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.

2670: Revisiting CCHFV Round 6

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. For more details check out the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever blog post.

2669: Electron Density Reconstruction 138

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 puzzle has multiple copies in it of a part of the SARS-COV1 spike protein.

2668: Revisiting Puzzle 786:

This is a repost of a De-novo Freestyle puzzle we ran in October of 2013. Your solutions for this puzzle will help us evaluate some features of the recent Foldit updates. Players will NOT be able to load in solutions from Puzzle 786.