H to D Tango

- Pat Weber

Description of Image:

Hydrogen/Deuterium exchange experiments conducted in solution reveal global conformational changes that accompany ligand binding.  The molecule has been colored according to the observed H/D exchange.  The background shows a plot of the time-dependent changes in H/D exchange along the sequence of the protein.  Blue and red regions indicate slow and fast exchange, respectively.  Because structural changes that form the basis for molecular signaling may be masked by crystal contacts, characterization of molecules in solution by H/D exchange provides an important structural biology tool for drug design.