A report was published in Nature last week describing the first de novo designed proteins with anti-cancer activity. These compact molecules were designed to stimulate the same receptors as IL-2, a powerful immunotherapeutic drug, while avoiding unwanted off-target receptor interactions. We believe this is just the first of many computer-generated cancer drugs with enhanced specificity and potency. R@h participants provided computing for forward folding experiments used in this study which helped validate designs. We'd like to congratulate and thank all R@h volunteers who contributed to this work! Thank you! Read the full article here: [Link] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0830-7 ([Link] PDF)

By rosetta@home at 2019-01-14

Readers of Nature’s News & Views selected an article about our work as their 2018 Reader’s Choice! The [Link] article, written by Roberto Chica of University of Ottawa, does a fantastic job detailing [Link] our recent publication on de novo fluorescence-activating proteins — and the challenges of de novo protein design more generally.

By rosetta@home at 2019-01-04

A new report was recently published in Nature describing the design of proteins that mimic DNA. Using computational design, heterodimeric proteins that form double helices with hydrogen-bond mediated specificity were created. When a pool of these new protein zippers gets melted and then allowed to refold, only the proper pairings form. They are all-against-all orthogonal. With these new tools in hand, it may be possible to construct large protein-based machines that self-assemble in predictable ways. Read the full article here: [Link] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0802-y ([Link] PDF) We'd like to thank all Rosetta@home volunteers who contributed computing resources used in this work. Thank you!

By rosetta@home at 2019-01-04