Molecular Evidence for the Involvement of Alpha Crystallin in the Colouration/Crosslinking of Crystallins in Age-related Nuclear Cataract

Maillard Reactions in Lens Proteins: Methylglyoxal-mediated Modifications in the Rat Lens

“…Prominent physico-chemical changes in the lens that occur with aging and cataract development include yellowing, covalent crosslinking and accumulation of protein-bound fluorescent products (Bandyopadhyay et al, 1992 ;Chen et al, 1997 ;Sparrow et al, 1988 ;Zeimer and Noth, 1984). The Maillard reaction, a nonenzymatic reaction of aldehydes and ketones with amino groups on proteins (Monnier et al, 1992) has been proposed as a mechanism for such changes.…”

Age-related Changes in Human Lens Crystallins Identified by Two-dimensional Electrophoresis and Mass Spectrometry

“…For a review of modifications to α-crystallins see Groenen et al (1994). A recent study also determined that α-crystallin in human lens undergoes extensive modifications leading to its incorporation as a major component of the insoluble colored fraction of agerelated nuclear cataracts (Chen et al, 1997).…”

Age-Related Nuclear Cataract: A Lens Transport Problem

“…The progressive aggregation of proteins over time, which leads to diminished solubility, may also play a role in this [28]. In addition, the chaperone action of ·-crystallin in stabilising denatured lens proteins from precipitation may be important, especially since it has been demonstrated that ·-crystallin is a major component of the urea-insoluble protein that is characteristic of nuclear catarct [29,30].…”