Production and characterization of a monoclonal antibody to bovine beta-crystallin

Interaction of an altered beta-crystallin with other proteins in the Philly mouse lens

An altered beta B2-crystallin is synthesized in the lens of the Philly mouse. This beta B2 has a more acidic isoelectric point than the beta B2 that is isolated from normal mouse lens. The altered beta B2 is immunologically reactive with antibody to the amino terminal of the beta B2-crystallin, but appears to be present in only very small quantities in the Philly lens. When the soluble proteins are isolated from the Philly lens and chromatographed by gel exclusion chromatography, the beta B2 can be found primarily in the heavy molecular weight fraction. Some immunoreactive material was also found throughout the higher molecular weight beta-crystallin region, beta H, and the lower molecular weight region, beta L. These results would indicate that the altered beta B2-crystallin in the Philly lens can interact with the other beta-crystallins in the lens; however, interactions of the beta B2-crystallin with the other proteins of the lens may cause rapid aggregation of the cellular proteins leading to the formation of the heavy molecular weight material. The increased number of these aggregates may eventually lead to the cataract formation in the Philly mouse.

Monoclonal antibodies to chick crystallins

Several monoclonal antibodies against chick crystallins were obtained. Immunoblot analysis indicated that the monoclonal antibodies distinguish not only the three classes of crystallin (alpha, beta and delta), but also their subclasses. Monoclonal antibodies alpha 2 and alpha 1 reacted exclusively with alpha A and alpha B, respectively, demonstrating that alpha-crystallin subclasses of the chicken are antigenically distinct. An immunohistological study utilizing these monoclonal antibodies showed that the two alpha-crystallin subclasses, alpha A and alpha B, are co-expressed in the same cells and are more concentrated in the epithelium than the fibers in 14-day-old chick embryo lenses. However, immunofluorescence suggested different distribution of alpha-crystallin subclasses within an epithelial cell. alpha A is distributed evenly in the cytoplasm, but alpha B is more concentrated in the fiber-proximal side. Using anti-beta monoclonal antibodies, it was shown that beta-crystallins are divided into three distinct subclasses according to their antigenicity: 27-kDa and 25-kDa beta-crystallins are recognized by beta 1 antibody, 26-kDa and 19-kDa beta-crystallins by beta 2 antibody, and 35-kDa beta-crystallins by beta 3 antibody. All of the anti-delta-crystallin monoclonal antibodies (delta 1 to delta 3) obtained here bound to all delta-crystallin molecular species separable by isoelectrofocusing.

Homology among beta-crystallins: monoclonal antibodies to beta-heavy crystallin

The mouse monoclonal antibodies, prepared with rat beta H-crystallin as parent antigen, show cross-reactivity to specific subunits in beta H-, beta L1-, and beta L2-crystallin but no reactivity to either alpha- or gamma-crystallins. Antigenic homology among the beta-crystallin subunits was demonstrated by comparison of the topographic distributions of peptides on two-dimensional electrophoretograms subjected to either staining or an ELISA of the immunoblots.

Phase separation in lens cytoplasm is genetically linked to cataract formation in the Philly mouse

The variation of the phase-separation temperature, Tc, in lenses was studied during the postnatal development of three genetically different mouse strains: Swiss-Webster, Philly, and the (Swiss-Webster x Philly)F1 hybrid. The general behavior of Tc during early postnatal development has two stages: in stage I, Tc increased to a maximum and then, in stage II, Tc decreased. Philly mice are a strain that develops hereditary cataracts about 36 days following birth. In F1 hybrids of Philly and Swiss-Webster mice, cataracts appeared about 49 days following birth, approximately equal to 13 days later in development than in the Philly mice. In the Philly and hybrid mice, stage I and stage II were followed by stage III in which Tc reached a minimum value and then increased toward body temperature. The values of Tc at birth, the slope of the increase during stage I, and the maximum Tc were characteristic for each mouse strain. These results establish that the behavior of the temperature of the phase separation Tc in mouse lens is linked to the genetic strain of the mice and that the value of Tc at birth is an early indicator of lenses that will develop cataracts and lenses that will develop normally.

Immunocytochemical localization of the 27K beta-crystallin polypeptide in the mouse lens during development using a specific monoclonal antibody: implications for cataract formation in the Philly mouse

The Philly mouse develops a hereditary cataract about 5 weeks after birth. Although the causative agent is not known, data suggest that there is a correlation between cataract formation and the selective absence of a 27 kilodalton (27K) beta-crystallin lens polypeptide. The ontogeny of the 27K beta-crystallin polypeptide was examined in normal mice in order to evaluate its role in normal development and determine what impact its absence may have on the Philly mouse lens. A monoclonal antibody was used with the PAP method to immunocytochemically localize the 27K polypeptide in lenses of normal mice during development. beta-Crystallins detected with polyclonal antisera were found in differentiated fiber cells throughout the lens. In contrast, the 27K beta-crystallin polypeptide detected with a specific monoclonal antibody was not found in the fiber cells of the inner part of the lens (nucleus), but was specifically localized in the fiber cells of the outer part of the lens called the cortex. The polypeptide was found only in elongating and differentiated fiber cells and not in mitotically active epithelial cells. Although a minor component of the 2-day-old lens, the 27K polypeptide comprised a large portion of the 16-day-old lens including the anterior and posterior poles. These data show that the 27K polypeptide is a minor component of the embryonic lens, but becomes a major contributor to the postnatal lens. The 27K beta-crystallin lens polypeptide is abundant in the fiber cells of the normal postnatal mouse lens. The absence of the 27K polypeptide in the Philly mouse may contribute to the observed failure of fiber cells to differentiate in the Philly mouse after birth or may be deleterious in some other manner to normal lens development. The selective absence of the 27K beta-crystallin polypeptide, a defect which precedes cataract formation in the Philly mouse, is intriguing since it suggests a relationship between this major lens polypeptide and lens clarity.

Lens-specific expression and developmental regulation of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene driven by the murine alpha A-crystallin promoter in transgenic mice

Two lines of transgenic mice with one to two copies of a DNA fragment containing nucleotides -364 to +45 of the murine alpha A-crystallin gene linked to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene expressed the CAT gene only in their eye lenses. Both CAT activity and alpha A-crystallin were first detected in eyes at approximately 12.5 days of embryonic development, suggesting that the alpha A-CAT fusion gene and the endogenous alpha A-crystallin gene are co-regulated during lens development in the transgenic mice. These experiments show that the murine alpha A-crystallin gene contains a short, cis-acting, tissue-specific regulatory sequence at its 5' end that can target the expression of the bacterial CAT gene, and probably foreign eukaryotic genes, specifically to the ocular lens.

Comparison of the lens crystallin proteins from normal, rd, and rds mutant mice utilizing specific monoclonal antibodies

The lens proteins from three lines of congenic mice which are homozygous for the gene retinal degeneration (rd) or retinal degeneration slow (rds) or carrying the normal alleles (normal) were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and by immunological reactivity to specific monoclonal antibodies. The lens proteins of normal, rd, and rds mice showed a similar developmental pattern between postnatal day 0 and postnatal day 30. The expression of the 25000 molecular weight (MW) beta-crystallin polypeptide which appears postnatally in the normal lens was not affected by retinal abnormalities in the mutant mice. It is concluded that the regulation of the 25000 MW beta-crystallin polypeptide is not dependent upon differentiation or maintenance of the photoreceptor outer segments or continued presence of the photoreceptor cells.

Differential synthesis of rat lens proteins during development

Developmental regulation of crystallin protein synthesis was observed in rat lenses between embryonic day 19 and postnatal day 21. Studies on lenses incubated in [35S]-methionine and on lens messenger RNAs translated in a reticulocyte lysate showed that several new polypeptides were synthesized in the lens beginning approximately 1 week after birth. One new polypeptide which had a molecular weight of 27 000 comigrated with the beta crystallins on SDS-PAGE and became a predominant component in older lenses. By crossed rocket immunoelectrophoresis and isoelectric focusing, synthesis of several native beta crystallins and one gamma crystallin was detected only in the postnatal lens. Many crystallin proteins were synthesized in the embryonic and the postnatal lens and did not change during the time period studied. These data suggest a differential regulation of the crystallin proteins during development. It appears that the lens undergoes a transition from embryonic to adult crystallin expression during the first weeks after birth. Factors such as maturation of the retina may be necessary for this transition.

Monoclonal antibodies to bovine alpha-crystallin

Monoclonal antibodies to bovine alpha-crystallin have been produced using hybridoma technology. Five selected hybridoma clones were maintained as ascites tumours in mice and gram quantities of the antibodies were purified from the ascites fluids by affinity chromatography on alpha m-crystallin covalently bound to Sepharose CL-2B. Preliminary characterization studies suggest that the antibodies are pure and monospecific. The antibodies could be divided into two groups on the basis of their reactivities towards iodinated alpha-crystallin, their ability to bind to Protein A-Sepharose, their immunoglobulin subclass, their immunoelectrophoretic patterns and their abilities to react with chicken and opossum alpha-crystallin. The availability of these monoclonal antibodies will greatly facilitate studies on the surface topography of alpha-crystallin.

The development of a monoclonal antibody to a human gamma crystallin

A monoclonal antibody to human lens 24,000 molecular weight gamma crystallin has been produced in rat x mouse hybridoma cell lines. The antibody reacts specifically with the 24,000 molecular weight gamma crystallin and does not cross react with the 21,000 or the 19,000 gamma crystallins. The antibody reacts with protein from dog, mouse, monkey and bovine lenses but does not react with proteins from chick lens. The 24,000 molecular weight gamma protein increases from 2% of the soluble protein in the fetal lens to 14% in the 2 month old lens to 25% in the adult lens. No difference was observed in the amount of this crystallin between the nuclear and cortical regions of the adult lens. In one hypermature cataractous lens, the amount of this crystallin decreased to a value of about 5% of the total soluble protein.