title: The effects of aging and cataract formation on the trypsin inhibitor activity of human lens.
abstract: Assays were carried out to determine the trypsin inhibitor activity present in the water-soluble and water-insoluble fractions of human lenses of various ages. Little change was seen in the inhibitor activity of the water-soluble protein fraction. When this fraction was chromatographed on an Agarose A-1.5 m column, however, the inhibitor activity was increasingly associated with the high molecular weight (HMW) protein fraction with age. A gradual increase in water-insoluble inhibitor was seen up to age 60, which correlated with the increase in protein in this fraction. After age 60, a marked increase in the water-soluble inhibitor activity was observed. In 80-90-yr old lenses, 1 mg of water-insoluble protein was able to inhibit 200 micrograms of crystallin trypsin by 50%. Similar assays on a collection of cortical and brunescent cataracts also showed very high levels of water-insoluble inhibitor activity. In most cases, these values were higher than those for the age-matched control lenses. Fractionation of the water-insoluble proteins showed that the bulk of the activity remained with the urea-insoluble fraction in cataractous lenses. A low molecular weight trypsin inhibitor was isolated from the water-soluble and water-insoluble fractions of human lenses. An age-dependent increase in this inhibitor was observed by activity measurements and electrophoretic analysis.
authors.affiliation: Eye Research Foundation of Missouri, Columbia 65201.
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ortwerth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D002386:Cataract / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D003459:Crystallins / Q000378:metabolism; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008970:Molecular Weight; D012995:Solubility; D014361:Trypsin Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins; D014361:Trypsin Inhibitors