RNA-Puzzles

is a collective experiment for blind RNA structure prediction.

Aims of the project

  • To determine the capabilities and limitations of current methods of 3D RNA structure prediction based on sequence;
  • To find whether and how progress has been made, as well as what has yet to be done to achieve better solutions
  • To identify whether there are specific bottlenecks that hold back the field;
  • To promote the available methods and guide potential users in the choice of suitable tools for real-world problems;
  • To encourage the RNA structure prediction community in their efforts to improve the current tools and to make automated prediction tools available.
  • To explore the underlying mechanism of ligand-RNA binding and the conformational changes in riboswitches.
  • Basic Rules

  • Confidential agreement: "I will use the provided sequence data for prediction purposes only. I will not distribute the sequences in any form outside my working group."
  • It is strongly recommanded that all the predictions formatted in standard PDB format. So that all the modellers could have a fair comparison without considering the file format and prediction region. We provide a python script here for generating standard PDB format files, only the coordinates need to be replaced by the predictors.
  • RNA chains should be named in alphabetical order. e.g. A for the first chain, B for the second chain.
  • Up to FIVE prediction models could be predicted as the final results of one problem for each group. It is also recommended to submit ten models.
  • Please put all prediction models together in one PDB file as NMR format (Separate models by lines: "MODEL n" and "ENDMDL").
  • For submission, please either use our online submission system or send us an email.
  • Call for participants

  • We hope more crystallgraphers could help us in providing more crystal, cryo-EM or NMR structures. Any kind of RNA related structure information is encouraged. Anyone who may have a RNA structure please contact us.
  • We encourage more predictors who are interested in RNA structure prediction to take part in this compitition to push forward the field. Anyone who is interested please send us an email.