␣B-crystallin, a member of the small heat-shock protein family and a major eye lens protein, is a high molecular mass assembly and can act as a molecular chaperone. We report a synchrotron radiation x-ray solution scattering study of a truncation mutant from the human ␣B-crystallin (␣B57-157), a dimeric protein that comprises the ␣-crystallin domain of the ␣B-crystallin and retains a significant chaperone-like activity. According to the sequence analysis (more than 23% identity), the monomeric fold of the ␣-crystallin domain should be close to that of the small heat-shock protein from Methanococcus jannaschii (MjHSP16.5). The theoretical scattering pattern computed from the crystallographic model of the dimeric MjHSP16.5 deviates significantly from the experimental scattering by the ␣-crystallin domain, pointing to different quaternary structures of the two proteins. A rigid body modeling against the solution scattering data yields a model of the ␣-crystallin domain revealing a new dimerization interface. The latter consists of a strand-turn-strand motif contributed by each of the monomers, which form a four-stranded, antiparallel, intersubunit composite -sheet. This model agrees with the recent spin labeling results and suggests that the ␣B-crystallin is composed by flexible building units with an extended surface area. This flexibility may be important for biological activity and for the formation of ␣B-crystallin complexes of variable sizes and compositions.␣A-and ␣B-crystallin, which share 54% amino acid sequence identity, build the subunits of ␣-crystallin, a major eye lens protein, comprising up to 40% of the total lens proteins. The structural function of the ␣-crystallin is to assist in maintaining transparency in the lens (1). The chaperone-like function of ␣B-crystallin helps to avoid formation of large light-scattering aggregates and possibly helps to prevent cataract in the lens. Moreover, neurodegenerative diseases, ischemia, or multiple sclerosis lead to an overexpression of this protein, which makes it an object of special medical interest (2).The ␣-crystallin as well as other mammalian small heat-shock proteins (sHSPs)1 form large globular complexes with a diameter of about 10 -25 nm. Cryoelectron microscopy and image analysis revealed that ␣B-crystallin is a hollow spherical shell with variable quaternary structure (3), and a frequent exchange of subunits between the particles was observed. The chaperone activity of ␣B-crystallin is associated with partial perturbation of the substrate protein tertiary structure, leading to a multimeric molten globule-like state with increased hydrophobicity (4, 5). The exposed hydrophobic regions of ␣-crystallin interact with substrate proteins possessing an increased surface hydrophobicity but a low degree of unfolding (6).The molecular structure and subunit interactions in ␣-crystallin have long been under investigation. The stretches of residues promoting formation of lower or higher molecular weight ␣-crystallin oligomers have been identified. Upon additio...