Characterization of Mg2+-induced conformational change in the 50S ribosomal subunit by differential hydrogen exchange

The technique of differential hydrogen exchange allows detection of a conformational change in the 50S subunit of Escherichia coli ribosome when the magnesium concentration is lowered in a range where ribosomal activity is fully preserved. This change is characterized by a seventy-fold acceleration of about thirty labile hydrogens in the case of a Mg2+ jump from 10 mM to 2 mM. The small number of hydrogens involved can explain the difficulty in detecting this change by other methods.