On the determinants of amide backbone exchange in proteins: a neutron crystallographic comparative study.

The hydrogen/deuterium-exchange (HDX) method, coupled with neutron diffraction, is a powerful probe for investigating molecular dynamics. In the present report, general determinants of HDX are proposed based on 12 deposited neutron protein structures. The parameters that correlate best with HDX are the depth within the protein structure of the amide N atom and the secondary-structure type.