title: Characteristics of super alphaA-crystallin, a product of in vitro exon shuffling.
abstract: alphaA-Crystallin, a small heat shock protein with chaperone-like activity, forms dynamic multimeric complexes. Recently we described the spontaneous generation of a mutant protein (super alphaA-crystallin) by exon duplication arisen via exon shuffling confirming a classic hypothesis by Gilbert [Nature 271 (1978) 501]. Comparison of super alphaA-crystallin, which is viable in a mouse skeletal muscle cell line, with normal alphaA-crystallin shows that it has diminished thermostability, increased exposure of hydrophobic patches, a larger complex size and lost its chaperone activity. However, super alphaA-crystallin subunits exchange as readily between complexes as does normal alphaA-crystallin. These data indicate that chaperone-like activity may vanish independent of subunit hydrophobicity and exchangeability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: van Rijk
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: van den Hurk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Renkema
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Boelens
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bloemendal
mesh_terms: D000817:Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002850:Chromatography, Gel / Q000379:methods; D006224:Cricetinae; D003459:Crystallins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D005091:Exons; D005453:Fluorescence; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D015870:Gene Expression; D006361:Heating; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000817:Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates; D003459:Crystallins; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C027132:1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate