title: Isoelectric focusing pattern of human corneal aldehyde dehydrogenase.
abstract: The major soluble protein in the bovine cornea (BCP 54) has recently been identified as a class 3 aldehyde dehydrogenase. An enzymatic and even a possible structural role of this protein in the mammalian cornea has been proposed. Earlier we showed that the human cornea contains the same enzyme but with a different substrate specificity, compared to the bovine. Moreover, the enzymatic activity was harbored in the dimeric 88-kD species. Genetic variants have been found for several mammalian ocular aldehyde dehydrogenases. In this study we investigated whether such variants were also present in the human cornea by using a zymography technique for aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and immunoblotting with rabbit anti-BCP 54 and lectin staining after isoelectric focusing (IEF) and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We investigated 50 individual human corneal epithelial extracts and found one common IEF variant (n = 47) and two "rare" IEF variants in three individuals. Analysis of these patterns indicates that the observed IEF profiles may be caused by posttranslational events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Gondhowiardjo
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: van Haeringen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kijlstra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003315:Cornea / Q000201:enzymology*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004848:Epithelium / Q000201:enzymology; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007525:Isoelectric Focusing; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D005136:Eye Proteins; D007527:Isoenzymes; D037102:Lectins; C030863:corneal protein 54, bovine; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase