title: Degradation of crystallins from a psoriatic patient undergoing PUVA therapy.
abstract: Comparative physico-chemical and spectroscopic analyses were carried out in human lens proteins obtained from extracts of normal, senile and PUVA cataracts. Mass recovery analysis reveals a large protein concentration loss in the PUVA cataract relative to the normal lens and senile cataract. This protein loss parallels an increase in the degraded polypeptide chains. However, the tryptophan content (2.1 mol/mol of 20 kDa protein subunit) and the apparent fluorescence quantum yield (phi f = 0.056) of the tryptophan residues which are believed to be involved in the development of UV-induced cataracts are unchanged after age-related alterations and/or in vivo photochemistry associated with psoralen (8MOP) photosensitized reactions.
authors.affiliation: INIC/Centro de Quimica Fisica Molecular, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sa e Melo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cirne de Castro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bazin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santus
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D002386:Cataract / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003459:Crystallins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011701:PUVA Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000628:therapy*; D012995:Solubility; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D014364:Tryptophan