Sucrose modifies ribosomal stability and conformation.

High concentrations of sucrose have a strong protective effect on heat-induced modifications of rat liver ribosomal subunits. They prevent to a large extent subunit inactivation, measured by poly (U)-dependent [14C] Phe tRNA binding (40S subunits) and puromycin reaction (60S subunits), subunit unfolding into light forms, and the release of both free and protein-complexed 5S RNA. They also increase the temperature at which subunits start to melt. Our data indicate that sucrose affects subunit conformation.