title: Gene and protein structure of a beta-crystallin polypeptide in murine lens: relationship of exons and structural motifs.
abstract: A 23,000 molecular weight beta-crystallin (beta 23) of the murine eye lens is encoded in a 4.1 +/- 0.3-kilobase gene containing three introns. Each of the four exons seems to code for a separate structural motif of the protein, whose tertiary structure was predicted by an interactive computer graphics technique based on the crystallographic structure of bovine gamma II-crystallin. The first exon also encodes a hydrophobic N-terminal peptide resembling membrane anchor sequences of other proteins. Our results indicate structural homology among the beta- and gamma-crystallin polypeptides, and link gene structure with protein structure in this superfamily of lens proteins.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003459:Crystallins / Q000235:genetics*; D005796:Genes; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins; D012333:RNA, Messenger