Examination of old human lenses indicates that low-molecular-weight alpha crystallin is not present in the inner 30-40%, the nucleus, of the lens. The remainder of such lenses, the periphery, contains normal levels of this protein. This finding is in marked contrast to observations in young lenses, where a large quantity of this protein is found throughout the tissue.

PURPOSE. Mature-onset cataract results from the formation of light-scattering aggregates of lens crystallins. Although oxidative or mutational damage may be a prerequisite, little is known of the initiation or nucleation of these aggregated states. In mice carrying mutations in -crystallin genes, a truncated form of -crystallin formed intranuclear filamentous inclusions within lens fiber cells....

Cataract, a leading cause of blindness, occurs due to aggregation of crystallin proteins in eye lens. In this paper, the aggregation site in three major γ-crystallins of human eye lens has been identified unambiguously by using their primary sequences with the help of PASTA, Tango and AGGRESCAN. We have found that some hydrophobic residues in C-terminal domain of γ-crystallins play putative rol...

The soluble proteins of a newborn human lens exhibit almost no non-tryptophan fluorescence. On aging, an increase in the fluorescence of all native crystallins is found except for 72-crystallin. With formation of nuclear cataract, a further increase is seen for 7,-crystallin. The fluorophore, excitation 355 nm/emission 420 nm, is mainly associated with one species of the Yi-crystallin populatio...

m a-Crystallins were demonsl:rated recently to be involved fin interaction with a short element of the sense strand of the murine yDE/F-ctystallin genes immediately downstresm of the transcriptional initiation site @OTIS). The aim of the study was to demonstrate a consensus sequence and to test, if the interaction with a-crystallin is dependent on phospholylation. M&&& 3*P-labelled oligonucleot...

OBJECTIVE betagamma-crystallins are among the most long lived globular proteins known today. Interaction of the two domains through a hydrophobic interface is one of the major contributors to the stability of these crystallins. Changes in these interactions are either due to the amino acid substitutions or the changes in the orientations of the same amino acids leading to cataract formation. We...

The transparent corneal stroma contains a population of corneal fibroblasts termed keratocytes, which are interspersed between the collagen lamellae. Under normal conditions, the keratocytes are quiescent and transparent. However, after corneal injury the keratocytes become activated and transform into backscattering wound-healing fibroblasts resulting in corneal opacification. At present, the ...

PURPOSE Previously, using lens epithelial explants from neonatal rats, we showed that both insulin and IGF-1 synergistically enhance the effectiveness of FGF as an inducer of fiber differentiation. The authors aimed to determine whether IGF-1 enhances FGF-induced fiber differentiation in lens epithelial cells at various ages and, in particular, whether it can counter a marked age-related declin...