title: Identification by 1H NMR spectroscopy of flexible C-terminal extensions in bovine lens alpha-crystallin.
abstract: Two-dimensional 1H NMR spectroscopy of bovine eye lens alpha-crystallin and its isolated alpha A and alpha B subunits reveals that these aggregates have short and very flexible C-terminal extensions of eight (alpha A) and ten (alpha B) amino acids which adopt little preferred conformation in solution. Total alpha-crystallin forms a tighter aggregate than the isolated alpha A and alpha B subunit aggregates. Our results are consistent with a micelle model for alpha-crystallin quaternary structure. The presence of terminal extensions is a general feature of those crystallins, alpha and beta, which form aggregates.
authors.affiliation: Australian Cataract Research Foundation, University of Wollongong, NSW.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carver
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Aquilina
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Truscott
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Ralston
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003459:Crystallins / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins