A U-Turn occurs when a loop section of a protein makes a short, 3-5 segment bend between the two secondary structures that it connects. These secondary structures are usually a pair of hydrogen bonded sheets, although a U-turn can appear between a sheet and a helix, or between two helices, as happens in Halorhodopsin. Strictly speaking, U-turns are not secondary structures. They can have neither hydrogen bonds nor disulfide bonds connecting them, as is the case with sheets and helices, respectively. Yet U-turns appear frequently in proteins, and they may have particular strategic considerations of their own. Finding these commonalities would be of great value to players of FoldIt.
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