Integrin-collagen interactions play a critical role in a myriad of cellular functions that include immune response, and cell development and differentiation, yet their mechanism of binding is poorly understood. There is increasing evidence that conformational flexibility assumes a central role in the molecular mechanisms of protein-protein interactions and here we employ NMR hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) experiments to explore the impact of slower timescale dynamic events. To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying collagen-induced conformational switches, we have undertaken a comparative study between the wild type integrin a1 I and a gain-of-function E317A mutant. NMR HDX results suggest a relationship between regions exhibiting a reduced local stability in the unbound I domain and those that undergo significant conformational changes upon binding. Specifically, the aC and a7 helices within the C-terminus are at the center of such major perturbations and present reduced local stabilities in the unbound state relative to other structural elements. Complementary isothermal titration calorimetry experiments have been performed to derive complete thermodynamic binding profiles for association of the collagen-like triple-helical peptide with wild type a1 I and E317A mutant. The differential energetics observed for E317A are consistent with the HDX experiments and support a model in which intrinsically destabilized regions predispose Abbreviations: a1 I, alpha1 I domain; NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance; HDX, hydrogen-deuterium exchange; HSCQ, heteronuclear single-quantum correlation; MIDAS, metal ion-dependent adhesion site; THP, collagen-like triple helical peptide; ITC, isothermal titration calorimetry; CD, circular dichroism.Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article.Integrin-collagen interactions play a critical role in cell adhesion processes. To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying collageninduced conformational switches, we have undertaken a comparative NMR study between the human integrin a1 I and a gain-offunction E317A mutant. Our results, supported by thermodynamic measurements, suggest that intrinsically destabilized regions facilitate conformational rearrangements of integrin I domain. This study highlights the importance of exploring slow dynamics to delineate allosteric and binding events. Published by Wiley-Blackwell. V C 2016 The Protein Society conformational rearrangement in the integrin I domain. This study highlights the importance of exploring different timescales to delineate allosteric and binding events.