title: Determining crystal structures through crowdsourcing and coursework.
abstract: We show here that computer game players can build high-quality crystal structures. Introduction of a new feature into the computer game Foldit allows players to build and real-space refine structures into electron density maps. To assess the usefulness of this feature, we held a crystallographic model-building competition between trained crystallographers, undergraduate students, Foldit players and automatic model-building algorithms. After removal of disordered residues, a team of Foldit players achieved the most accurate structure. Analysing the target protein of the competition, YPL067C, uncovered a new family of histidine triad proteins apparently involved in the prevention of amyloid toxicity. From this study, we conclude that crystallographers can utilize crowdsourcing to interpret electron density information and to produce structure solutions of the highest quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horowitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koepnick
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Biophysics Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Raoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tymieniecki
authors.affiliation: Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, Department of Informatics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47408, USA.|Program in Cognitive Science, Indiana University, 1900 E 10th Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47406, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda A
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6579-1120
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Winburn
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University, College of Computer and Information Science, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Center for Game Science, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flatten
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Rogawski
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Koropatkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|ProQR Therapeutics NV., 2333 Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tsinatkeab T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Hailu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Neha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koldewey
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Logan S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Ahlstrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sikkema
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Meredith A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Skiba
authors.affiliation: Chemical Biology Doctoral Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Finn P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Institute of Complex Systems, Cellular Biophysics (ICS-4), Forschungszentrum, D-52428 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Felix R M
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Beinlich
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Center for Game Science, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Popović
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.|Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, Massachusetts 02747, USA.
authors.forename: Firas
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khatib
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: James C A
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Bardwell
mesh_terms: D063045:Crowdsourcing / Q000379:methods*; D003461:Crystallography / Q000379:methods*; D003479:Curriculum; D006867:Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012984:Software
chemical_list: C097552:histidine triad protein; D006867:Hydrolases