title: Heat-induced changes in the conformation of alpha- and beta-crystallins: unique thermal stability of alpha-crystallin.
abstract: Of the crystallin proteins of the lens, the principal subunit of the beta-crystallin, beta B2 (beta Bp), has been considered to be the only heat-stable protein because it does not precipitate upon heating. In our recent investigations, however, we have found that the alpha-crystallin from bovine lenses is not only heat stable but also does not denature at temperatures up to 100 degrees C. Using circular dichroism and fluorescence to monitor the conformational changes of alpha- and beta B2-crystallins upon heating, we found that alpha-crystallin maintains a high degree of structure, whereas the beta B2-crystallin shows a reversible sigmoidal order-disorder transition at about 58 degrees C.
authors.affiliation: Eye Research Institute, Boston, MA 02114.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maiti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kono
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003201:Computers; D003459:Crystallins; D006358:Hot Temperature; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins