title: Viscosity of alpha-crystallin solutions.
abstract: Accommodation in the mammalian lens requires flexure of lens fibres and some redistribution of their contents involving limited viscous flow. Shear-dependent viscosity of bovine alpha-crystallin solutions was determined with the Contraves Low-Shear Rheometer between 4.4 and 347 mg ml(-1), and at 15.5, 25, 30, and 37 degrees C. All solutions showed significant shear thinning, with markedly higher viscosity at physiological levels of approximately 300 mg ml(-1). Viscosity-concentration graphs were similar at low (1.0 s(-1)) and high (94.5 s(-1)) shear rates, indicating low molecular interaction in solution. Arrhenius plots which might have indicated the size of the energy barrier to displacement of molecules or aggregates were inconclusive.
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AW, UK. john.tiffany@eye.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tiffany
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Koretz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D012996:Solutions; D014783:Viscosity; D038201:alpha-Crystallins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions; D038201:alpha-Crystallins