Structure-disrupting ions: detection of qualitative change in an enzyme.

Preparations of erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from normal individuals show similar degrees of inhibition by neutral salts. Preparations from Caucasian subjects with different hereditary deficiency syndromes differ from each other and from normal subjects, indicating a qualitative difference in these specific "deficient" enzymes. Sensitivity to neutral salts may be a means of detecting an amino acid substitution.