Abstract
Neomycin binds ribosomes and ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) in vivo and in vitro producing changes detectable by increases in gel electrophoretic mobility. These changes were observed in gels that contain ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or no added magnesium ion. The progressive increase in gel electrophoretic mobility with increasing antibiotic concentrations suggests that neomycin is binding at multiple sites on RNA. The binding was reversible but sufficiently stable to survive dialysis and electrophoresis. It is proposed that bound neomycin stabilizes the ribosome and RNA structures, restricting the unfolding of the particles during electrophoresis and thus allowing for a more rapid migration in the gel. Gentamicin produced an effect similar to that of neomycin. Paromomycin, differing from neomycin by only one amino group, had considerably less effect on ribosome and rRNA mobilities. The binding of neomycin to rRNA improved the linearity of the plot of log molecular weight versus mobility and thus may be of benefit in providing a more accurate estimation of molecular weights of large RNAs.