tooluniverse-protein-therapeutic-design
AI-guided de novo protein design — RFdiffusion backbone generation, ProteinMPNN sequence design, structure validation (pLDDT, pTM, MPNN scores). Use for designing therapeutic protein binders, novel scaffolds, enzyme variants, and miniprotein/protein-interface design before experimental validation.
By mims-harvard · 386 installs
npx skills add mims-harvard/tooluniverse --skill tooluniverse-protein-therapeutic-design
Source repository · Upstream listing
Therapeutic Protein Designer
AI guided de novo protein design using RFdiffusion backbone generation, ProteinMPNN sequence optimization, and structure validation for therapeutic protein development.
KEY PRINCIPLES :
1. Structure first Generate backbone geometry before sequence
2. Target guided Design binders with target structure in mind
3. Iterative validation Predict structure to validate designs
4. Developability aware Consider aggregation, immunogenicity, expression
5. Evidence graded Grade designs by confidence metrics
6. Actionable output Provide sequences ready for experimental testing
7. English first queries Always use English terms in tool calls
Therapeutic protein design starts with the target interaction. What binding surface do you need to cover? A small pocket = nanobody or peptide. A large flat surface = designed protein. Stability, immunogenicity, and manufacturability constrain the design space.
LOOK UP, DON'T GUESS
When uncertain about any scientific fact, SEARCH databases first rather than reasoning from memory. A database verified answer is always more reliable than a guess.
COMPUTE, DON'T DESCRIBE
When analysis requires computation (statistics, data processing, scoring, enrichment), write and run Python code via Bash. Don't describe what you would do — execute it and report actual results. Use ToolUniverse tools to retrieve data, then Python (pandas, scipy, statsmodels, matplotlib) to analyze it.
When to Use
Apply when user asks to:
Design a protein binder, therapeutic protein, or scaffold
Optimize a protein sequence for function
Design a de novo enzyme
Generate protein variants for target binding
Workflow Overview
Critical Requirements
Report First Approach (MANDATORY)
1. Create [TARGET] protein design report.md first with section headers
2. Progressively update as designs are generated
3. Output [TARGET] designed sequences.fasta and [TARGET] top candidates.csv
Design Documentation (MANDATORY)
Every design MUST include: Sequence, Length, Target, Method, and Quality Metrics (pLDDT, pTM, MPNN score, binding prediction).
NVIDIA NIM Tools
Tool Purpose Key Parameter
NvidiaNIM rfdiffusion (requires NVIDIA API KEY env var; free key at build.nvidia.com) Backbone generation diffusion steps (NOT num steps )
NvidiaNIM proteinmpnn (requires NVIDIA API KEY env var; free key at build.nvidia.com) Sequence design pdb string (NOT pdb )
ESMFold predict structure Fast validation sequence (NOT seq )
NvidiaNIM alphafold2 (requires NVIDIA API KEY env var; free key at build.nvidia.com) High accuracy structure inference from sequence sequence , algorithm
NvidiaNIM esm2 650m (requires NVIDIA API KEY env var; free key at build.nvidia.com) Sequence embeddings sequences , format
Common Parameter Mistakes
Tool Wrong Correct
NvidiaNIM rfdiffusion (requires NVIDIA API KEY) num steps=50 diffusion steps=50
NvidiaNIM proteinmpnn (requires NVIDIA API KEY) pdb=content pdb string=content
ESMFold predict structure seq="MVLS..." sequence="MVLS..."
NvidiaNIM alphafold2 (requires NVIDIA API KEY) seq="MVLS..." sequence="MVLS..."
NVIDIA NIM Requirements
API Key : NVIDIA API KEY environment variable required
Rate limits : 40 RPM (1.5 second minimum between calls)
AlphaFold2 may return 202 (polling required); RFdiffusion and ESMFold are synchronous
Supporting Tools
Tool Purpose Key Parameters
PDBe get uniprot mappings Find PDB structures uniprot id
RCSBData get entry Download PDB file pdb id
alphafold get prediction Get AlphaFold DB structure accession
EMDB search structures Search cryo EM maps query
EMDB get structure Get entry details entry id
UniProt get entry by accession Get target sequence accession
InterPro get protein domains Get domains accession
Evidence Grading
Tier Criteria
T1 (best) pLDDT 85, pTM 0.8, low aggregation, neutral pI
T2 pLDDT 75, pTM 0.7, acceptable developability
T3 pLDDT 70, pTM 0.65, developability concerns
T4 Failed validation or major developability issues
Completeness Checklist
[ ] Target structure obtained (PDB or predicted)
[ ] Binding epitope identified
[ ] = 5 backbones generated, top 3 5 selected
[ ] = 8 sequences per backbone, MPNN scores reported
[ ] All sequences validated (ESMFold), pLDDT/pTM reported, = 3 passing
[ ] Developability assessed (aggregation, pI, expression)
[ ] Ranked candidate list, FASTA file, experimental recommendations
Reference Files
DESIGN PROCEDURES.md Phase by phase code examples, sampling parameters, fallback chains
TOOLS REFERENCE.md Complete tool documentation with code examples
EXAMPLES.md Sample design workflows and outputs
CHECKLIST.md Detailed phase checklists and quality metrics
design templates.md Report templates and output format examples