Chaperone Function of Rat Lens α-Crystallin

Yuh Ho, Ming Ching Hsu, Fu Yung Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A solution of γ-crystallin became turbid upon heating at 65°C for 30 minutes; however, addition of α-crystallin suppressed this thermal aggregation. It was found the effective chaperone function could be achieved with the molar ratio of α/γ greater than 1/20. In terms of crystallin subunit, five molecular α-crystallin subunits could afford chaperone for one molecular γ-crystallin. The gel filtration profile of the sample solution, containing α- and γ-crystallins and preincubation at 65°C for 30 minutes, showed complex formation between α- and γ-crystallins, indicating α-crystallin was bound to thermally denatured γ-crystallin. A 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid (ANS) fluorescence study showed that α-crystallin has more hydrophobic regions exposed after thermal incubation. In the presence of urea, both the α-crysiallin chaperone activity and the ANS fluorescence intensity decreased. Accordingly, hydrophobic regions of α-crystallin play an indispensible role in its chaperone activity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)285-292
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of the Chinese Chemical Society
Volume45
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1998

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry

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