Ontogeny of human lens crystallins

Thiol-Mediated Enhancement of Nε-Acetyllysine Formation in Lens Proteins

Lysine acetylation (AcK) is a prominent post-translational modification in eye lens crystallins. We have observed that AcK formation is preferred in some lysine residues over others in crystallins. In this study, we have investigated the role of thiols in such AcK formation. Upon incubation with acetyl-CoA (AcCoA), αA-Crystallin, which contains two cysteine residues, showed significantly higher levels of AcK than αB-Crystallin, which lacks cysteine residues. Incubation with thiol-rich γS-Crystallin resulted in higher AcK formation in αB-Crystallin from AcCoA. External free thiol (glutathione and N-acetyl cysteine) increased the AcK content in AcCoA-incubated αB-Crystallin. Reductive alkylation of cysteine residues significantly decreased (p < 0.001) the AcCoA-mediated AcK formation in αA-Crystallin. Introduction of cysteine residues within ∼5 Å of lysine residues (K92C, E99C, and V169C) in αB-Crystallin followed by incubation with AcCoA resulted in a 3.5-, 1.3- and 1.3-fold increase in the AcK levels when compared to wild-type αB-Crystallin, respectively. Together, these results suggested that AcK formation in α-Crystallin is promoted by the proximal cysteine residues and protein-free thiols through an S → N acetyl transfer mechanism.

Regulation of water flow in the ocular lens: new roles for aquaporins

The ocular lens is an important determinant of overall vision quality whose refractive and transparent properties change throughout life. The lens operates an internal microcirculation system that generates circulating fluxes of ions, water and nutrients that maintain the transparency and refractive properties of the lens. This flow of water generates a substantial hydrostatic pressure gradient which is regulated by a dual feedback system that uses the mechanosensitive channels TRPV1 and TRPV4 to sense decreases and increases, respectively, in the pressure gradient. This regulation of water flow (pressure) and hence overall lens water content, sets the two key parameters, lens geometry and the gradient of refractive index, which determine the refractive properties of the lens. Here we focus on the roles played by the aquaporin family of water channels in mediating lens water fluxes, with a specific focus on AQP5 as a regulated water channel in the lens. We show that in addition to regulating the activity of ion transporters, which generate local osmotic gradients that drive lens water flow, the TRPV1/4-mediated dual feedback system also modulates the membrane trafficking of AQP5 in the anterior influx pathway and equatorial efflux zone of the lens. Since both lens pressure and AQP5-mediated water permeability (P H 2 O ${P_{{{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{2}}}{\mathrm{O}}}}$ ) can be altered by changes in the tension applied to the lens surface via modulating ciliary muscle contraction we propose extrinsic modulation of lens water flow as a potential mechanism to alter the refractive properties of the lens to ensure light remains focused on the retina throughout life.

Identification of the Most Impactful Asparagine Residues for γS-Crystallin Aggregation by Deamidation

Crystallin aggregation in the eye lens is involved in the pathogenesis of cataracts. The aggregation is considered to be promoted by non-enzymatic post-translational modifications, such as the deamidation and stereoinversion of amino acid residues. Although in a previous study, the deamidated asparagine residues were detected in γS-crystallin in vivo, it is unclear which deamidated residues have the most impact on the aggregation under physiological conditions. In this study, we investigated the deamidation impacts of all Asn residues in γS-crystallin for the structural and aggregation properties utilizing deamidation mimetic mutants (N14D, N37D, N53D, N76D, and N143D). The structural impacts were investigated using circular dichroism analysis and molecular dynamics simulations, and the aggregation properties were analyzed by gel filtration chromatography and spectrophotometric methods. No significant structural impacts of all mutations were detected. However, the N37D mutation decreased thermal stability and changed some intermolecular hydrogen-bond formations. Aggregation analysis indicated that the superiority of the aggregation rate in each mutant varied with temperature. Deamidation at any Asn residues promoted γS-crystallin aggregation, and the deamidation at Asn37, Asn53, and Asn76 were suggested to be the most impactful in the formation of insoluble aggregations.

Imaging Cataract-Specific Peptides in Human Lenses

Age-related protein truncation is a common process in long-lived proteins such as proteins found in the ocular lens. Major truncation products have been reported for soluble and membrane proteins of the lens, including small peptides that can accelerate protein aggregation. However, the spatial localization of age-related protein fragments in the lens has received only limited study. Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) is an ideal tool for examining the spatial localization of protein products in tissues. In this study we used IMS to determine the spatial localization of small crystallin fragments in aged and cataractous lenses. Consistent with previous reports, the pro-aggregatory αA-crystallin 66-80 peptide as well as αA-crystallin 67-80 and γS-crystallin 167-178 were detected in normal lenses, but found to be increased in nuclear cataract regions. In addition, a series of γS-crystallin C-terminal peptides were observed to be mainly localized to cataractous regions and barely detected in transparent lenses. Other peptides, including abundant αA3-crystallin peptides were present in both normal and cataract lenses. The functional properties of these crystallin peptides remain unstudied; however, their cataract-specific localization suggests further studies are warranted.

Melittin, a honeybee venom derived peptide for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is the most prevalent neurological complication of cancer treatment which involves sensory and motor nerve dysfunction. Severe CIPN has been reported in around 5% of patients treated with single and up to 38% of patients treated with multiple chemotherapeutic agents. Present medications available for CIPN are the use of opioids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, and tricyclic antidepressants, which are only marginally effective in treating neuropathic symptoms. In reality, symptom reappears after these drugs are discontinued. The pathogenesis of CIPN has not been sufficiently recognized and methods for the prevention and treatment of CIPN remain vulnerable to therapeutic problems. It has witnessed that the present medicines available for the disease offer only symptomatic relief for the short term and have severe adverse side effects. There is no standard treatment protocol for preventing, reducing, and treating CIPN. Therefore, there is a need to develop curative therapy that can be used to treat this complication. Melittin is the main pharmacological active constituent of honeybee venom and has therapeutic values including in chemotherapeutic-induced peripheral neuropathy. It has been shown that melittin and whole honey bee venom are effective in treating paclitaxel and oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy. The use of melittin against peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy has been limited despite having strong therapeutic efficacy against the disease. Melittin mediated haemolysis is the key reason to restrict its use. In our study, it is found that α-Crystallin (an eye lens protein) is capable of inhibiting melittin-induced haemolysis which gives hope of using an appropriate combination of melittin and α-Crystallin in the treatment of CIPN. The review summarizes the efforts made by different research groups to address the concern with melittin in the treatment of chemotherapeutic-induced neuropathy. It also focuses on the possible approaches to overcome melittin-induced haemolysis.

In Vivo Quasi-Elastic Light Scattering Eye Scanner Detects Molecular Aging in Humans

The absence of clinical tools to evaluate individual variation in the pace of aging represents a major impediment to understanding aging and maximizing health throughout life. The human lens is an ideal tissue for quantitative assessment of molecular aging in vivo. Long-lived proteins in lens fiber cells are expressed during fetal life, do not undergo turnover, accumulate molecular alterations throughout life, and are optically accessible in vivo. We used quasi-elastic light scattering (QLS) to measure age-dependent signals in lenses of healthy human subjects. Age-dependent QLS signal changes detected in vivo recapitulated time-dependent changes in hydrodynamic radius, protein polydispersity, and supramolecular order of human lens proteins during long-term incubation (~1 year) and in response to sustained oxidation (~2.5 months) in vitro. Our findings demonstrate that QLS analysis of human lens proteins provides a practical technique for noninvasive assessment of molecular aging in vivo.

The Aggregation of αB-Crystallin under Crowding Conditions Is Prevented by αA-Crystallin: Implications for α-Crystallin Stability and Lens Transparency

One of the most crowded biological environments is the eye lens which contains a high concentration of crystallin proteins. The molecular chaperones αB-crystallin (αBc) with its lens partner αA-crystallin (αAc) prevent deleterious crystallin aggregation and cataract formation. However, some forms of cataract are associated with structural alteration and dysfunction of αBc. While many studies have investigated the structure and function of αBc under dilute in vitro conditions, the effect of crowding on these aspects is not well understood despite its in vivo relevance. The structure and chaperone ability of αBc under conditions that mimic the crowded lens environment were investigated using the polysaccharide Ficoll 400 and bovine γ-crystallin as crowding agents and a variety of biophysical methods, principally contrast variation small-angle neutron scattering. Under crowding conditions, αBc unfolds, increases its size/oligomeric state, decreases its thermal stability and chaperone ability, and forms kinetically distinct amorphous and fibrillar aggregates. However, the presence of αAc stabilizes αBc against aggregation. These observations provide a rationale, at the molecular level, for the aggregation of αBc in the crowded lens, a process that exhibits structural and functional similarities to the aggregation of cataract-associated αBc mutants R120G and D109A under dilute conditions. Strategies that maintain or restore αBc stability, as αAc does, may provide therapeutic avenues for the treatment of cataract.

MALDI imaging mass spectrometry of β- and γ-crystallins in the ocular lens

Lens crystallin proteins make up 90% of expressed proteins in the ocular lens and are primarily responsible for maintaining lens transparency and establishing the gradient of refractive index necessary for proper focusing of images onto the retina. Age-related modifications to lens crystallins have been linked to insolubilization and cataractogenesis in human lenses. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) has been shown to provide spatial maps of such age-related modifications. Previous work demonstrated that, under standard protein IMS conditions, α-crystallin signals dominated the mass spectrum and age-related modifications to α-crystallins could be mapped. In the current study, a new sample preparation method was optimized to allow imaging of β- and γ-crystallins in ocular lens tissue. Acquired images showed that γ-crystallins were localized predominately in the lens nucleus whereas β-crystallins were primarily localized to the lens cortex. Age-related modifications such as truncation, acetylation, and carbamylation were identified and spatially mapped. Protein identifications were determined by top-down proteomics analysis of lens proteins extracted from tissue sections and analyzed by LC-MS/MS with electron transfer dissociation. This new sample preparation method combined with the standard method allows the major lens crystallins to be mapped by MALDI IMS.

The Structure and Stability of the Disulfide-Linked γS-Crystallin Dimer Provide Insight into Oxidation Products Associated with Lens Cataract Formation

The reducing environment in the eye lens diminishes with age, leading to significant oxidative stress. Oxidation of lens crystallin proteins is the major contributor to their destabilization and deleterious aggregation that scatters visible light, obscures vision, and ultimately leads to cataract. However, the molecular basis for oxidation-induced aggregation is unknown. Using X-ray crystallography and small-angle X-ray scattering, we describe the structure of a disulfide-linked dimer of human γS-crystallin that was obtained via oxidation of C24. The γS-crystallin dimer is stable at glutathione concentrations comparable to those in aged and cataractous lenses. Moreover, dimerization of γS-crystallin significantly increases the protein's propensity to form large insoluble aggregates owing to non-cooperative domain unfolding, as is observed in crystallin variants associated with early-onset cataract. These findings provide insight into how oxidative modification of crystallins contributes to cataract and imply that early-onset and age-related forms of the disease share comparable development pathways.

Light-focusing human micro-lenses generated from pluripotent stem cells model lens development and drug-induced cataract in vitro

Cataracts cause vision loss and blindness by impairing the ability of the ocular lens to focus light onto the retina. Various cataract risk factors have been identified, including drug treatments, age, smoking and diabetes. However, the molecular events responsible for these different forms of cataract are ill-defined, and the advent of modern cataract surgery in the 1960s virtually eliminated access to human lenses for research. Here, we demonstrate large-scale production of light-focusing human micro-lenses from spheroidal masses of human lens epithelial cells purified from differentiating pluripotent stem cells. The purified lens cells and micro-lenses display similar morphology, cellular arrangement, mRNA expression and protein expression to human lens cells and lenses. Exposing the micro-lenses to the emergent cystic fibrosis drug Vx-770 reduces micro-lens transparency and focusing ability. These human micro-lenses provide a powerful and large-scale platform for defining molecular disease mechanisms caused by cataract risk factors, for anti-cataract drug screening and for clinically relevant toxicity assays.

On the contribution of the nucleus and cortex to human lens shape and size

BACKGROUND

The shape of the human lens changes from almost spherical at birth to ellipsoid due to a decrease in sagittal thickness and an increase in equatorial diameter during the first two decades of life. Both dimensions increase thereafter. This study was undertaken to determine the reason for the change.

METHODS

Published refractive index gradients, from 20 lenses aged from seven to 82 years, were used to calculate the protein contents of concentric shells of fibre cells in human lenses. The boundaries of nuclear cores containing from 2.5 to 45 mg, in 2.5 mg increments, were determined from the isoindicial shells. Cortex thickness was determined from the distance between the 30 mg nuclear boundary and the capsule.

RESULTS

The sagittal thickness of every nuclear core decreased until age 40 years and remained constant thereafter. Over the same time frame, the equatorial diameter of the cores containing up to 30 mg of protein increased, while those of cores larger than 30 mg decreased. The volumes of the cores decreased and their shapes changed from near spherical to spheroidal. Equatorial and sagittal cortex thickness increased linearly with age at 0.0082 mm per year. The anterior sagittal cortex was 0.23 mm larger than the posterior and the equatorial cortex was 0.62 mm greater.

CONCLUSIONS

Changes in lens shape observed during the first two decades of life are due to remodelling and compaction of the 30 mg nuclear core. Cortex growth is linear throughout life.

Nonhuman Primate Ocular Biometry

PURPOSE

To examine ocular growth in nonhuman primates (NHPs) from measurements on ex vivo eyes.

METHODS

We obtained NHP eyes from animals that had been killed as part of other studies or because of health-related issues. Digital calipers were used to measure the horizontal, vertical, and anteroposterior globe diameters as well as corneal horizontal and vertical diameters of excised globes from 98 hamadryas baboons, 551 cynomolgus monkeys, and 112 rhesus monkeys, at ages ranging from 23 to 360 months. Isolated lens sagittal thickness and equatorial diameter were measured by shadowphotogrammetry. Wet and fixed dry weights were obtained for lenses.

RESULTS

Nonhuman primate globe growth continues throughout life, slowing toward an asymptotic maximum. The final globe size scales with negative allometry to adult body size. Corneal growth ceases at around 20 months. Lens diameter increases but thickness decreases with increasing age. Nonhuman primate lens wet and dry weight accumulation is monophasic, continuing throughout life toward asymptotic maxima. The dry/wet weight ratio reaches a maximum of 0.33.

CONCLUSIONS

Nonhuman primate ocular globe and lens growth differ in several respects from those in humans. Although age-related losses of lens power and accommodative amplitude are similar, lens growth and properties are different indicating care should be taken in extrapolating NHP observations to the study of human accommodation.

Expression of the HSF4 DNA binding domain-EGFP hybrid gene recreates early childhood lamellar cataract in transgenic mice

PURPOSE

The clinical management of cataracts in infancy involves surgical removal of the lens to ensure transmission of light to the retina, which is essential for normal neural development of the infant. This surgery, however, entails a lifelong follow-up and impaired vision. To our knowledge, no animal models recapitulate human lamellar opacities, the most prevalent form of early childhood cataracts. We present data on the recreation of the human lamellar cataract phenotype in transgenic mice.

METHODS

Mutations in the DNA binding domain (DBD) of the heat shock transcription factor 4 (HSF4) are known to be associated with early childhood autosomal dominant lamellar cataract. We used bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenesis to express a hybrid gene: Hsf4 (DBD)-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), by recombineering EGFP sequences into the DBD of the Hsf4 gene, to interfere with the DNA binding properties of Hsf4.

RESULTS

We recapitulated the human lamellar cataract, in its temporal as well as spatial presentation, within the transgenic mouse lens. This phenotype was reproduced faithfully using four different BACs, indicating that EGFP can be used to target transcription factor function in transgenic mice. Molecular and cell biological examination of early postnatal transgenic lens reveals impairment of secondary fiber cell differentiation.

CONCLUSIONS

Recreation of the human lamellar cataract phenotype in mice allows investigation of this human pathology at a level not possible previously and points to the relevance of fiber cell heterogeneity dictated by fiber cell-specific gene activity in the biogenesis of the lamellar cataract.

Degradation of an old human protein: age-dependent cleavage of γS-crystallin generates a peptide that binds to cell membranes

Long-lived proteins exist in a number of tissues in the human body; however, little is known about the reactions involved in their degradation over time. Lens proteins, which do not turn over, provide a useful system to examine such processes. Using a combination of Western blotting and proteomic methodology, age-related changes to a major protein, γS-crystallin, were studied. By teenage years, insoluble intact γS-crystallin was detected, indicative of protein denaturation. This was not the only change, however, because blots revealed evidence of significant cross-linking as well as cleavage of γS-crystallin in all adult lenses. Cleavage at a serine residue near the C terminus was a major reaction that caused the release of a 12-residue peptide, SPAVQSFRRIVE, which bound tightly to lens cell membranes. Several other crystallin-derived peptides with double basic residues also lodged in the cell membrane fraction. Model studies showed that once cleaved from γS-crystallin, SPAVQSFRRIVE adopts a markedly different shape from that in the intact protein. Further, the acquired helical conformation may explain why the peptide seems to affect water permeability. This observation may help explain the changes to cell membranes known to be associated with aging in human lenses. Age-related cleavage of long-lived proteins may therefore yield peptides with untoward biological activity.

Tight binding of proteins to membranes from older human cells

The lens is an ideal model system for the study of macromolecular aging and its consequences for cellular function, since there is no turnover of lens fibre cells. To examine biochemical processes that take place in the lens and that may also occur in other long-lived cells, membranes were isolated from defined regions of human lenses that are synthesised at different times during life, and assayed for the presence of tightly bound cytosolic proteins using quantitative iTRAQ proteomics technology. A majority of lens beta crystallins and all gamma crystallins became increasingly membrane bound with age, however, the chaperone proteins alpha A and alpha B crystallin, as well as the thermally-stable protein, βB2 crystallin, did not. Other proteins such as brain-associated signal protein 1 and paralemmin 1 became less tightly bound in the older regions of the lens. It is evident that protein-membrane interactions change significantly with age. Selected proteins that were formerly cytosolic become increasingly tightly bound to cell membranes with age and are not removed even by treatment with 7 M urea. It is likely that such processes reflect polypeptide denaturation over time and the untoward binding of proteins to membranes may alter membrane properties and contribute to impairment of communication between older cells.

Large-scale binding of α-crystallin to cell membranes of aged normal human lenses: a phenomenon that can be induced by mild thermal stress

PURPOSE

With age, large amounts of crystallins become associated with fiber cell membranes in the human lens nucleus, and it has been proposed that this binding of protein may lead to the obstruction of membrane pores and the onset of a barrier to diffusion. This study focused on membrane binding within the barrier region and the outermost lens cortex.

METHODS

Human lenses across the age range were used, and the interaction of crystallins with membranes was examined using sucrose density gradient centrifugation, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and amine-reactive isobaric tagging technology. Lipids were quantified using shotgun lipidemics.

RESULTS

Binding of proteins to cell membranes in the barrier region was found to be different from that in the lens nucleus because in the barrier and outer cortical regions, only one high-density band formed. Most of the membrane-associated protein in this high-density band was α-crystallin. Mild thermal stress of intact young lenses led to pronounced membrane binding of proteins and yielded a sucrose density pattern in all lens regions that appeared to be identical with that from older lenses.

CONCLUSIONS

α-Crystallin is the major protein that binds to cell membranes in the barrier region of lenses after middle age. Exposure of young human lenses to mild thermal stress results in large-scale binding of α-crystallin to cell membranes. The density gradient profiles of such heated lenses appear to be indistinguishable from those of older normal lenses. The data support the hypothesis that temperature may be a factor responsible for age-related changes to the human lens.

On the growth and internal structure of the human lens

Growth of the human lens and the development of its internal features are examined using in vivo and in vitro observations on dimensions, weights, cell sizes, protein gradients and other properties. In vitro studies have shown that human lens growth is biphasic, asymptotic until just after birth and linear for most of postnatal life. This generates two distinct compartments, the prenatal and the postnatal. The prenatal growth mode leads to the formation of an adult nuclear core of fixed dimensions and the postnatal, to an ever-expanding cortex. The nuclear core and the cortex have different properties and can readily be physically separated. Communication and adhesion between the compartments is poor in older lenses. In vivo slit lamp examination reveals several zones of optical discontinuity in the lens. Different nomenclatures have been used to describe these, with the most common recognizing the embryonic, foetal, juvenile and adult nuclei as well as the cortex and outer cortex. Implicit in this nomenclature is the idea that the nuclear zones were generated at defined periods of development and growth. This review examines the relationship between the two compartments observed in vitro and the internal structures revealed by slit lamp photography. Defining the relationship is not as simple as it might seem because of remodeling and cell compaction which take place, mostly in the first 20 years of postnatal life. In addition, different investigators use different nomenclatures when describing the same regions of the lens. From a consideration of the dimensions, the dry mass contents and the protein distributions in the lens and in the various zones, it can be concluded that the juvenile nucleus and the layers contained within it, as well as most of the adult nucleus, were actually produced during prenatal life and the adult nucleus was completed within 3 months after birth, in the final stages of the prenatal growth mode. Further postnatal growth takes place entirely within the cortex. It can also be demonstrated that the in vitro nuclear core corresponds to the combined slit lamp nuclear zones. In view of the information presented in this review, the use of the terms foetal, juvenile and adult nucleus seems inappropriate and should be abandoned.

Modulation of alpha-crystallin chaperone activity: a target to prevent or delay cataract?

Cataract, loss of eye lens transparency, is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. alpha-Crystallin, initially known as one of the major structural proteins of the eye lens, is composed of two homologous subunits alphaA- and alphaB-crystallins. It is convincingly established now that alpha-crystallin functions like a chaperone and plays a decisive role in the maintenance of eye lens transparency. The functional ability of alpha-crystallin subunits is to act in cooperation as molecular chaperones to prevent the cellular aggregation and/or inactivation of client proteins under variety of stress conditions. However, chaperone-like activity of alpha-crystallin could be deteriorated or lost during aging or under certain clinical conditions because of various genetic and environmental factors. This review will focus specifically on relevance of alpha-crystallin chaperone function to lens transparency. In particular, we reviewed the studies that demonstrate the modulation of alpha-crystallin chaperone-like activity and discussed the possibility of chaperone-like activity of alpha-crystallin as a potential target to prevent or delay the cataractogenesis.

Deamidation alters the structure and decreases the stability of human lens betaA3-crystallin

According to the World Health Organization, cataracts account for half of the blindness in the world, with the majority occurring in developing countries. A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye due to light scattering of precipitated lens proteins or aberrant cellular debris. The major proteins in the lens are crystallins, and they are extensively deamidated during aging and cataracts. Deamidation has been detected at the domain and monomer interfaces of several crystallins during aging. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two potential deamidation sites at the predicted interface of the betaA3-crystallin dimer on its structure and stability. The glutamine residues at the reported in vivo deamidation sites of Q180 in the C-terminal domain and at the homologous site Q85 in the N-terminal domain were substituted with glutamic acid residues by site-directed mutagenesis. Far-UV and near-UV circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated that there were subtle differences in the secondary structure and more notable differences in the tertiary structure of the mutant proteins compared to that of the wild type betaA3-crystallin. The Q85E/Q180E mutant also was more susceptible to enzymatic digestion, suggesting increased solvent accessibility. These structural changes in the deamidated mutants led to decreased stability during unfolding in urea and increased precipitation during heat denaturation. When simulating deamidation at both residues, there was a further decrease in stability and loss of cooperativity. However, multiangle-light scattering and quasi-elastic light scattering experiments showed that dimer formation was not disrupted, nor did higher-order oligomers form. These results suggest that introducing charges at the predicted domain interface in the betaA3 homodimer may contribute to the insolubilization of lens crystallins or favor other, more stable, crystallin subunit interactions.

Detecting Deamidation Products in Proteins by Electron Capture Dissociation

A nonenzymatic posttranslational modification of proteins and peptides is the spontaneous deamidation of asparaginyl residues via a succinimide intermediate to form a varying mixture of aspartyl and isoaspartyl residues. The isoaspartyl residue is generally difficult to detect particularly using mass spectrometry because isoaspartic acid is isomeric with aspartic acid so that there is no mass difference. However, electron capture dissociation has demonstrated the ability to differentiate the two isoforms in synthetic peptides using unique diagnostic ions for each form; the cr. + 58 and z(l-r) - 57 fragment ions for the isoAsp form and the Asp side chain loss ((M + nH)(n-1)+. - 60) for the Asp form. Shown here are three examples of isoaspartyl detection in peptides from proteins; a deamidated tryptic peptide of cytochrome c, a tryptic peptide from unfolded and deamidated ribonuclease A, and a tryptic peptide from calmodulin deamidated in its native state. In all cases, the cr. + 58 and z(l-r) - 57 ions allowed the detection and localization of isoaspartyl residues to positions previously occupied by asparaginyl residues. The (M + nH)(n-1)+. - 60 ions were also detected, indicating the presence of aspartyl residues. Observation of these diagnostic ions in peptides from proteins shows that the method is applicable to defining the isomerization state of deamidated proteins.

Fluorescent and compositional changes in crystallin supramolecular structures in pig lens during development

Water soluble proteins (WSPs) in Sus scrofa lenses from pigs in different developmental stages: (young (GI), young adult (GII), and middle-aged (GIII)) were separated using GF-HPLC, yielding fractions of different molecular weights. Non-tryptophan (345/420 nm) and tryptophan (280/345 nm) fluorescence was measured in these fractions. Relative non-tryptophan fluorescence increased with age at a rate directly correlated to the molecular weight of aggregates forming the different chromatographic fractions, while tryptophan fluorescence tended to decrease. The crystallins constituting each fraction were separated using 2D-electrophoresis and after development with Coomassie blue they were identified using MS-TOF. Also, the protein content of each spot was quantified by subsequent scanning and integration. The proportions of unchanged crystallins characteristically changed with age in chromatographic fractions of different molecular weights. Thus it was possible to relate these changes with those occurring in the fluorescent properties and molecular weight of supramolecular structures.

Transparency and non-refractive functions of crystallins--a proposal

Based on the premise that all crystallins have cellular and metabolically relevant catalytic activities, we propose that aberrant changes in non-crystallin (non-refractive) functions presage the appearance of cataractous pathologies in an otherwise highly stable edifice of transparency. This proposal is based on accumulating evidence from developmental, molecular and genetic studies that have established that crystallins are more than inanimate building blocks of the transparent lens fiber mass. The published work does not support the perceived dichotomy in the relevance of crystallin function (as essential) and non-crystallin function (as either of secondary importance or not essential at all), to the emergence and maintenance of the phenotype of transparency. A number of crystallin mutations have stage-specific phenotypes at developmental times when their concentrations have not reached 'crystallin' (high) proportions. There is heterogeneity in the cataract phenotypes associated with similar or identical mutations in different populations; the cataracts have disparate phenotypes even when the mutations are in the same gene. These data suggest that non-crystallin function is not merely a non-lens activity of a crystallin but an essential requirement within the lens itself.

Expression and activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor in differentiating cells of the developing and post-hatching chicken lens

The epidermal growth factor receptor is hypothesized to play an important role in the post-natal growth and differentiation of the ocular lens. Immunohistochemistry and western blotting were utilized to examine the distribution and activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor in embryonic and post-hatching chicken lenses. Although present at constant levels within epithelial cells throughout embryonic development, the receptor becomes increasingly activated on a highly conserved tyrosine residue necessary for intracellular signal transduction as hatching approaches. After hatching, activated receptors are found in epithelial cells committed to fiber cell formation and in fiber cells undergoing initial stages of terminal differentiation. Activated receptors could not be identified in central epithelial cells or nuclear fiber cells. This pattern persists until at least one year post-hatching. These data indicate that the epidermal growth factor receptor is positioned to influence not only post-natal patterns of lenticular gene expression but also the greatest amount of lens growth and development.

Crystallins, genes and cataract

Far from being a physical entity, assembled of inanimate structural proteins, the ocular lens epitomizes the biological ingenuity that sustains an essential and near-perfect physical system of immaculate optics. Crystallins (alpha, beta, and gamma) provide transparency by dint of their high concentration, but it is debatable whether proteins that provide transparency are any different, biologically or structurally, from those that are present in non-transparent structures or tissues. It is becoming increasingly clear that crystallins may have a plethora of metabolic and regulatory functions, both within the lens as well as outside of it. Alpha-crystallins are members of a small heat shock family of proteins and beta/gamma-crystallins belong to the family of epidermis-specific differentiation proteins. Crystallin gene expression has been studied from the perspective of the lens specificity of their promoters. Mutations in alpha-, beta-, and gamma-crystallins are linked with the phenotype of the loss of transparency. Understanding catalytic, non-structural properties of crystallins may be critical for understanding the malfunction in molecular cascades that lead to cataractogenesis and its eventual therapeutic amelioration.

Chaperone activity in the lens

INTRODUCTION

alpha-crystallin, the major protein of the eye lens, is a molecular chaperone that is able to prevent the precipitation of denatured proteins. This activity is thought to be important for the maintenance of lens transparency. Loss of the activity has been postulated to contribute to the development of cataract. The purpose of this study was to determine how chaperone activity was affected by growth and ageing of the lens.

METHODS

alpha-crystallins were purified from nine concentric tissue layers removed from an adult bovine lens. The ability to inhibit the precipitation of beta(L)-crystallin, following thermal denaturation, was used to assess the chaperone activity of these proteins. The molar ratio of alpha-crystallin/beta(L)-crystallin required to inhibit the precipitation of beta(L)-crystallin by 50 per cent was used as a measure of the affinity of the chaperone for denatured protein.

RESULTS

As evidenced by a gradual increase in the ratio, from 0.52 to 1.24, the protective ability of alpha-crystallin decreased from the outside of the lens into the centre. alpha-crystallin from the cortex of the lens provided greater protection against precipitation of proteins than older alpha-crystallin from the nucleus. The reasons for this were investigated. Gel electrophoresis of the proteins from each concentric layer revealed an increase in degraded polypeptides from approximately one per cent in the cortex to more than nine per cent in the centre of the lens. This increase appears to be correlated with the decrease in chaperone ability. Renaturing alpha-crystallin obtained from the nucleus did not increase its chaperone activity, indicating conformational changes were not responsible for the decreased activity. Phosphorylation did not appear to have any significant effect on the chaperone activity.

CONCLUSION

The loss of chaperone activity, accompanying fibre cell compression into the centre of the lens, can be attributed to degradation of the alpha-crystallin polypeptides.

Association behaviour of human betaB1-crystallin and its truncated forms

betaB1-crystallin plays an important role in the assembly of betaH-crystallin yet is known to be subject to N-terminal sequence truncations during human lens development and ageing. Here we have over-expressed human betaB1-crystallin, and various truncated forms in Escherichia coli and used mass spectrometry to monitor the monomer molecular weight. Gel permeation chromatography and laser light scattering have been used to estimate the assembly size of the various polypeptides as a function of protein concentration. The full-length betaB1-crystallin behaves as a dimer, like recombinant human betaB2-crystallin, but undergoes further self-association at high protein concentrations, unlike the betaB2-crystallin. Major truncations from the N-terminal extension lead to anomalous behaviour on gel permeation chromatography indicative of altered interactions with the column matrix, whereas light scattering indicated dimers at low protein concentration that self-associate as a function of protein concentration. Loss of 41 residues from the N-terminus, equivalent to an in vivo truncation site, resulted in temperature-dependent phase separation behaviour of the shortened betaB1-crystallin. Good crystals have been grown of a truncated version of human betaB1-crystallin using an in vitro cleavage protocol.

Packing-induced conformational and functional changes in the subunits of alpha -crystallin

The heteroaggregate alpha-crystallin and homoaggregates of its subunits, alphaA- and alphaB-crystallins, function like molecular chaperones and prevent the aggregation of several proteins. Although modulation of the chaperone-like activity of alpha-crystallin by both temperature and chaotropic agents has been demonstrated in vitro, the mechanism(s) of its regulation in vivo have not been elucidated. The subunits of alpha-crystallin exchange freely, resulting in its dynamic and variable quaternary structure. Mixed aggregates of the alpha-crystallins and other mammalian small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) have also been observed in vivo. We have investigated the time-dependent structural and functional changes during the course of heteroaggregate formation by the exchange of subunits between homoaggregates of alphaA- and alphaB-crystallins. Native isoelectric focusing was used to follow the time course of subunit exchange. Circular dichroism revealed large tertiary structural alterations in the subunits upon subunit exchange and packing into heteroaggregates, indicating specific homologous and heterologous interactions between the subunits. Subunit exchange also resulted in quaternary structural changes as demonstrated by gel filtration chromatography. Interestingly, we found time-dependent changes in chaperone-like activity against the dithiothreitol-induced aggregation of insulin, which correlated with subunit exchange and the resulting tertiary and quaternary structural changes. Heteroaggregates of varying subunit composition, as observed during eye lens epithelial cell differentiation, generated by subunit exchange displayed differential chaperone-like activity. It was possible to alter chaperone-like activity of preexisting oligomeric sHSPs by alteration of subunit composition by subunit exchange. Our results demonstrate that subunit exchange and the resulting structural and functional changes observed could constitute a mechanism of regulation of chaperone-like activity of alpha-crystallin (and possibly other mammalian sHSPs) in vivo.

The effects of hyperbaric oxygen on the crystallins of cultured rabbit lenses: a possible catalytic role for copper

Oxidative effects on lens proteins have been linked with the formation of human age-related cataract, particularly nuclear cataract. This study investigated the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO)-induced oxidative stress on nuclear and cortical alpha-, beta- and gamma-crystallins of cultured rabbit lenses, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The lenses were treated with 50 atm of either 100% N(2)(control) or 100% O(2)(experimental) for 3, 6, 16 and 48 hr. The levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and water-soluble (WS) protein decreased more rapidly in the nucleus of the O(2)-treated lens than in the cortex. The first significant loss of WS protein in each of the two regions occurred when levels of GSH had decreased by at least 90% in either the nucleus (at 6 hr) or the cortex (at 16 hr). HPLC analysis of the nuclear WS proteins indicated that beta-crystallins were the first proteins affected by the oxidative stress. Soon after HBO-treatment was initiated (at 6 hr) and prior to insolubilization of protein, nuclear beta- and gamma-crystallins moved to the higher molecular weight alpha-crystallin fraction; 2-D gel electrophoresis and Western blotting indicated the presence of disulfide-crosslinked and non-crosslinked beta- and gamma-crystallins in this fraction. Significantly different HBO-induced effects were observed on lens cortical crystallins compared to those for the nucleus. For example, gamma-crystallins in the cortex shifted very soon after HBO-treatment (at 3 hr) to slightly higher molecular weights, possibly the result of protein/glutathione mixed disulfide formation; however, this phenomenon was not observed in the nucleus. Cortical beta- and gamma-crystallins remained in solution longer than nuclear proteins following HBO-treatment of the lenses, presumably the result of protection from the four-fold higher level of GSH (22 vs 6 m M) present in the lens periphery. Surprisingly, there was no movement of beta- and gamma-crystallins to alpha(H)- and alpha-crystallin fractions in the cortex of the O(2)-treated lens, in contrast to that observed for the nucleus. Cortical crystallins appeared to go directly from being soluble to being insoluble with no high molecular weight intermediate stage. The data suggested a possible chaperone-like function for alpha-crystallin in the nucleus of the stressed lenses, but not in the cortex. HBO-induced effects on lens nuclear supernatants, which mimicked those observed for intact lenses, could be nearly completely prevented by the copper-chelator bathocuproine, but not by the iron-chelator deferoxamine. Overall, the results provide additional evidence demonstrating an increased susceptibility of the lens nucleus to oxidative stress; the greater protective ability of the cortex may be linked to a higher capacity for beta- and gamma-crystallin/glutathione mixed disulfide formation, inhibiting disulfide-crosslinked insolubilization. The data also implicate copper as a catalyst for the autoxidation of -SH groups in the lens, and suggest that alpha-crystallin chaperone-like activity may play a greater role in the lens nucleus than in the cortex in preventing oxidative insolubilization of crystallins.

Chaperone-like activity of a synthetic peptide toward oxidized gamma-crystallin

alphaA-Crystallin can function like a molecular chaperone. We recently reported that the alphaA-crystallin sequence, KFVIFLDVKHFSPEDLTVK (peptide-1, residues 70-88) by itself possesses chaperone-like (anti-aggregating) activity during a thermal denaturation assay. Based on the above data we proposed that the peptide-1 sequence was the functional site in alphaA-crystallin. In this study we investigated the specificity of peptide-1 against gamma-crystallin aggregation in the presence of H2O2 and CuSO4. Peptide-1 was able to completely protect against the oxidation-induced aggregation of gamma-crystallin. Removal of N-terminal Lys or the replacement of Lys with Asp (DFVIFLDVKHFSPEDLTVK, peptide-2) did not alter the anti-aggregation property of peptide-1. However, deletion of KF residues from the N-terminus of peptide-1 resulted in a significant loss of its anti-aggregation property. Bio-gel P-30 size-exclusion chromatography of gamma-crystallin incubated with peptide-2 under oxidative conditions revealed that a major portion of the peptide elutes in the void volume region along with gamma-crystallin, suggesting the binding of the peptide to the protein. Peptide-1 and -2 were also able to prevent the UV-induced aggregation of gamma-crystallin. These data indicate that the same amino acid sequence in alphaA-crystallin is likely to be responsible for suppressing the heat-denatured, oxidatively modified and UV-induced aggregation of proteins.

Age-related changes in human lens crystallins identified by two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry

The purpose of this study was to identify the major protein components in adult human lenses and to analyse the specific age-related changes in these proteins using two-dimensional electrophoresis, Edman sequencing, and in conjunction with the data in the accompanying manuscript, mass spectrometry. The majority of changes in the two-dimensional electrophoretic pattern of lens proteins occurred prior to 17 years of age, and included a decrease in proteins migrating to the original positions of beta B1, beta B3, beta A3, gamma C and gamma D, and the appearance of many new species with apparent molecular weights on two-dimensional electrophoretic gels similar to beta B2 and gamma S, but having more acidic pIs. These proteins were identified as deamidated forms of beta B1 and beta A3/A1 missing portions of their N-terminal extensions. With the exception of alpha B, deamidation was detected in all crystallin species. These data indicated that a major fraction of the water-soluble protein of the adult human lens is composed of truncated beta B1 and beta A3/A1 crystallins, and that nearly all human crystallins, including the, beta-crystallins, are susceptible to deamidation. The results also provided the most detailed map to date of the identities of protein species on two-dimensional electrophoresis gels of adult human lenses.

Hydrophobicity and flexibility of alpha A- and alpha B-crystallin are different

Since the discovery that the lens protein alpha-crystallin is also found in non-lenticular tissues and can function as a chaperone, relatively little attention has been paid to differences in properties between alpha A- and alpha B-crystallin, which form mixed aggregates in the lens but have so far never been found together in other tissues. In this study hydrophobicity and flexibility, properties that are thought to be relevant for chaperone function, are compared for alpha A- and alpha B-crystallin. Hydrophobicity was monitored from sodium dodecylsulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the absence and presence of (methyl-substituted) ureas. Flexibilities were calculated from primary structures. Based on literature data also some other properties are compared. The results indicate significant difference in hydrophobicity profile, flexibility of the terminal parts and stability of alpha A- and alpha B-crystallin.

Evidence for the participation of alpha B-crystallin in human age-related nuclear cataract

The aim of this study was to determine if the unusual coloured species characteristic of age-related nuclear cataract could be localised to specific residues of the crystallins. The insoluble, crosslinked and coloured cataract protein fraction (CPF) was isolated from cataract human lenses. Using a combination of tryptic digestion, gel filtration and multiple reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), coloured peaks were isolated and subjected to amino acid sequence analysis. With these techniques, it was hoped to identify and locate the modified residues. Sequence information was obtained on 16 'coloured' peptides. Many of the peptides were found to be derived from alpha B-crystallin. When redundancies are taken into account, six distinctive peptides were found to be derived from alpha B-crystallin; one from beta B1-crystallin, two from beta A3/A1-crystallin and three from gamma S-crystallin. Three sites of possible crystallin residue isomerisation to modification were detected in the alpha B- and beta A3/beta A1-crystallins, including probable asp isomerisation at residues 25 and 36 in alpha B-crystallin. Since the CPF is unique to nuclear cataract lenses, these data suggest that alpha-crystallin, and alpha B-crystallin in particular, may be implicated in the cataract process. This finding supports that of a recent study on cataract proteins using pronase digestion [Chen YC, Reid GE, Simpson RJ, Truscott RJW. Exp Eye Res 1997;65:835.]

Sequence analysis of betaA3, betaB3, and betaA4 crystallins completes the identification of the major proteins in young human lens

A combination of Edman sequence analysis and mass spectrometry identified the major proteins of the young human lens as alphaA, alphaB, betaA1, betaA3, betaA4, betaB1, betaB2, betaB3, gammaS, gammaC, and gammaD-crystallins and mapped their positions on two-dimensional electrophoretic gels. The primary structures of human betaA1, betaA3, betaA4, and betaB3-crystallin subunits were predicted by determining cDNA sequences. Mass spectrometric analyses of each intact protein as well as the peptides from trypsin-digested proteins confirmed the predicted amino acid sequences and detected a partially degraded form of betaA3/A1 missing either 22 or 4 amino acid residues from its N-terminal extension. These studies were a prerequisite for future studies to determine how human lens proteins are altered during aging and cataract formation.

Protein associated with human lens 'native' membrane during aging and cataract formation

Plasma membrane contains extrinsic as well as intrinsic proteins. Changes in the extrinsic proteins of lens membrane during human aging and cataract formation have not been investigated in detail. Unlike previous studies which examined lens membrane after being stripped of extrinsic proteins by treatment with chaotropic agents, we have isolated whole or 'native' lens membrane on a sucrose gradient by ultracentrifugation of the total water-insoluble protein. Essentially all of the water-insoluble protein from young to aged to cataractous human lens appeared membrane associated. In young lens (20-37 years old), most of the membrane banded at the 25/45% sucrose interface fraction. This fraction contained relatively little urea-soluble protein and likely represents fiber-cell plasma membrane with its physiologically associated extrinsic and intrinsic proteins. With aging (62-80 years old), about one-third of the membrane, as judged by the distribution of cholesterol, banded at a much higher density (50/58% sucrose fraction). The higher density was due to a great increase in the membrane's relative protein content (protein/cholesterol). Although this extra protein was composed of both urea-insoluble and -soluble fractions, the urea-soluble protein predominated in all lenses. Cataractous lens differed from aged-clear lens in that much more of the total membrane (70-75%) had shifted to the high density and participated in this massive binding of cytosolic proteins. Although alpha-crystallin was the principal extrinsic-membrane protein in young lens, high molecular weight aggregate of modified (acidic) crystallins accounted for the increased extrinsic protein in aging. The extrinsic proteins bound to both clear-aged and cataractous lens membrane were aggregated. In conclusion, examination of human lens native membrane fractions revealed that the association of crystallins with membrane in both aging and cataracts was much greater than previously recognized and most of this increased protein was non-covalently bound to the membrane. Much more of the lens total membrane from cataractous than clear-aged lens was involved in this massive protein association and the protein bound to cataract membrane appeared more highly aggregated.

Probing the microenvironments of tryptophan residues in the monomeric crystallins of the bovine lens

Tryptophan microenvironments have been examined in bovine beta s-, gamma II-, gamma IIIa-, gamma IIIb-, gamma IVa- and gamma IVb-crystallins by fluorescence methods. The proteins could be divided into two groups on the basis of the accessibilities of their tryptophan residues. The first group, comprising beta s, gamma II and gamma IIIb, appeared to have a compact structure with none of the tryptophans accessible to KI and only moderately so to acrylamide. By contrast in gamma IIIa, gamma IVa and gamma Vb, all tryptophans were readily accessible to acrylamide and 70% of the fluorescence could be quenched with KI. Spectral analysis, before and after quenching, time-resolved spectroscopy and simulations of the quenching curves suggested that gamma IIIa, gamma IVa and gamma IVb contain two classes of tryptophan residues. One class (tau 0 = 0.52 ns, fa = 0.3, lambda max = 324 nm) which was completely inaccessible to KI and relatively inaccessible to acrylamide (Ksv = 0.25 M-1), was assigned to the topologically equivalent residues in positions 42 and 131. The other class (tau 0 = 2.1-3.4 ns, fa = 0.7, lambda max = 330 nm) was accessible to both quenchers (Ksv = 5.00-5.15 M-1 and 2.47-2.60 M-1, for acrylamide and KI, respectively) and corresponded to the tryptophan residues in positions 68 and 157. The same classes may be present in the other low molecular weight proteins (tau 0 = 0.47-0.55 and 1.55-1.74) but the lower emission and low accessibilities to quenchers prevented their distinction and suggested that these proteins had more compact structures.

Protein-thiol mixed disulfides in human lens

Protein-thiol mixed disulfide formation has been implicated as a possible mechanism for the protein-protein aggregation in cataractogenesis. Previously we have found that two species of thiols are bound to proteins: GSH (PSSG) and cysteine (PSSC). In this study we found these molecules are ubiquitous in animal lenses with the highest levels in human, dog and rat, and lowest in monkey. However, the relative amount of PSSG to PSSC is quite different in each animal species. The ratio of PSSG/PSSC was 1/10 in rat lens, 4/1 in human and dog lenses and 2/1 in monkey lens. We also studied the effect of aging on the protein-thiol mixed disulfide levels in human donor lenses between 3 months and 88 years. Lens GSH levels were inversely related to age, similar to earlier reports, but PSSC levels increased linearly with age. PSSG levels showed a triphasic pattern with an initial sharp and linear increase from a low content in infants to a highest level at age 20; fell back about 50% to a new steady state level that was maintained for four more decades; finally, above 60 years, the levels in some lenses were two to three-fold higher while some lenses remained at the same low value. PSSC in human lens appeared to concentrate in the nuclear region and in the water insoluble proteins while PSSG was more evenly distributed. Besides the aging effect on the protein-thiol mixed disulfides, oxidative stress also potentiated protein modification in the human lens.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The glycation and cross-linking of isolated lens crystallins by ascorbic acid

Individual lens crystallins were isolated from calf lens extracts and incubated in the presence of ascorbic acid for 3 weeks under aerobic conditions. Both alpha-crystallin and beta H-crystallin rapidly cross-linked to form high molecular weight proteins, which did not enter the resolving gel on SDS-PAGE. Beta L-crystallin was somewhat less reactive, but gamma-crystallin showed little or no crosslinking. Gamma-crystallin, however, was almost equivalent to the other crystallins as a substrate for glycation. This was measured by: (a) the binding of protein to a boronate affinity column; (b) the incorporation of 3H from NaB3H4 into protein; (c) amino acid analysis of the modified proteins to estimate the extent of lysine modification; and (d) the incorporation of [1-14C]ASA into individual crystallins. When the separated crystallins were combined with [125I]gamma-crystallin and incubated with ascorbic acid, radioactivity was readily incorporated into the cross-linked products with other crystallins, but again not with gamma-crystallin itself. Gel filtration chromatography of a mixture of [125I]gamma-crystallin and alpha-crystallin showed the formation of a complex between gamma- and alpha-crystallins. These data suggest that all crystallins are glycated, but that cross-linking occurs preferentially between proteins, which are already bound together non-covalently.

Examination of a lens 'native' plasma membrane fraction and its associated crystallins

A bovine lens "native" plasma membrane fraction containing its full compliment of extrinsic proteins was prepared by sucrose density centrifugation of the water insoluble fraction. The major membrane fraction was found at the 25/45% sucrose interface. This fraction contained 73% of the total water insoluble phospholipid, 74% of the total water insoluble cholesterol and 58% of the total urea-insoluble protein. Only 9% of the total urea-soluble protein was membrane associated (extrinsic protein), most (75%) was recovered from the pellet. The major intrinsic protein (8 M-urea-insoluble) of the membrane fraction was MIP28, with lesser amounts of MP17. Extrinsic proteins (8 M-urea-soluble) were examined by SDS-PAGE, isoelectric focusing, immunoblotting and amino acid composition analysis. Approximately 70% of the total extrinsic protein appeared to be alpha A-crystallins and modified alpha A-crystallins. About 20% of the extrinsic protein was apparently beta- and gamma-crystallins. The remainder contained presumed cytoskeletal proteins and perhaps other unidentified polypeptides. The native plasma membrane was found distributed throughout the lens with only minor differences in the quantitative composition of the membrane fraction. We have concluded that the native membrane fraction represents the lens plasma membrane with its extrinsic proteins which exist in vivo. These extrinsic proteins appeared to be primarily acidic alpha-crystallin polypeptides with minor amounts of beta- and gamma-crystallins, and presumed cytoskeletal elements. We speculate that these extrinsic proteins may serve as a nucleation site for the association of other water insoluble protein through protein-protein interactions such as those found in the non-membrane associated urea-soluble protein. Together, these interactions may form a structured cytoplasmic matrix important for the maintenance of lens transparency.

Selective association of crystallins with lens 'native' membrane during dynamic cataractogenesis

Plasma membrane with its associated extrinsic proteins was isolated from normal and cataractous rat lenses by centrifugation of the total water insoluble fraction from homogenized lenses on a discontinuous sucrose gradient. Membrane, which we call "native" membrane, was recovered mainly from the 25/45% sucrose interface. Development of the experimental U18666A cataract resulted in plasma membrane shifting to higher density (the 50/55% sucrose fraction) and great increases in the urea soluble protein content of the lens. At early stages of cataract development, most of the increased urea soluble protein was membrane associated, presumably as extrinsic protein. With advancing cataract, most of the urea soluble protein appeared in an essentially membrane-free pellet fraction. The urea soluble protein associated with the cataract membrane was shown by combined IEF, SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, amino acid compositional analysis and protein sequence determinations to be mainly composed of modified alpha- and beta-crystallins. Alpha A-crystallin truncated by not more than 27 residues from the carboxyl terminus plus beta b1 crystallin truncated by 49 residues from the amino terminus were conclusively identified. In addition to beta b1, a population of six alpha-crystallin derived polypeptides were specifically enriched in the cataract membrane fraction. Four of these six alpha-crystallins appear to be truncated from their carboxyl terminus, a modification which should have increased their hydrophobicity. The pellet fraction, which accumulated in the lens nucleus as the cataract advanced, was enriched in urea soluble gamma-crystallin derived polypeptides. We suggest that protein insolubilization in this experimental cataract involves the selective and tight association of principally modified alpha-crystallins to the fiber cell plasma membrane.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoretic analysis of human lens proteins

Human lens proteins from clear lenses were separated and identified using two-dimensional polyacrylamide electrophoresis. Isoelectric focusing, both equilibrium and non-equilibrium, was performed in the first dimension and SDS electrophoresis in the second dimension. Proteins were identified by Western blotting and sequencing techniques and by comparison with patterns obtained with purified crystallin fractions. Analyses were performed on total urea soluble proteins of lenses varying in age from fetal to 73 yr. Several hundred protein spots representing crystallins, cytoskeletal proteins and enzymes were resolved in the fetal lens. In the older lenses there was a dramatic increase in the number of protein species in the molecular weight range of the crystallins and a reduced number of discrete protein species visible at molecular weights greater than 50,000. Conversely, a number of proteins below approximately 15 kDa were visible even in the fetal lens. The number and amount of polypeptides in this molecular weight range were increased in the older lenses. Many of these low molecular weight species could be assigned to either the alpha-, beta- or gamma-crystallin fractions. An age dependent increase in the number of acidic species of both crystallins and other proteins, such as, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase was observed as well as the loss or mobility change of gamma-crystallin. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis provides a sensitive and practical technique for characterizing all of the proteins of the human lens.