title: Altered aggregation properties of mutant gamma-crystallins cause inherited cataract.
abstract: Protein inclusions are associated with a diverse group of human diseases ranging from localized neurological disorders through to systemic non-neuropathic diseases. Here, we present evidence that the formation of intranuclear inclusions is a key event in cataract formation involving altered gamma-crystallins that are un likely to adopt their native fold. In three different inherited murine cataracts involving this type of gamma-crystallin mutation, large inclusions containing the altered gamma-crystallins were found in the nuclei of the primary lens fibre cells. Their formation preceded not only the first gross morphological changes in the lens, but also the first signs of cataract. The inclusions contained filamentous material that could be stained with the amyloid-detecting dye, Congo red. In vitro, recombinant mutant gammaB-crystallin readily formed amyloid fibrils under physiological buffer conditions, unlike wild-type protein. These data suggest that this type of cataract is caused by a mechanism involving the nuclear targeting and deposition of amyloid-like inclusions. The mutant gamma-crystallins initially disrupt nuclear function, but then this progresses to a full cataract phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Medical Science Institutes, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Aileen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sandilands
authors.forename: Aileen M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hutcheson
authors.forename: Heather A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.forename: Gijs
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vrensen
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Löster
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Klopp
authors.forename: Raimund B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Graw
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masaki
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Dobson
authors.forename: Cait E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: MacPhee
authors.forename: Roy A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Quinlan
mesh_terms: D000682:Amyloid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D002386:Cataract / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000737:chemistry*; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010641:Phenotype; D017354:Point Mutation; D017510:Protein Folding; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D038222:gamma-Crystallins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D038222:gamma-Crystallins