Article
Structural integrity of the Greek key motif in βγ-crystallins is vital for central eye lens transparency.
PloS one - 1 Jan 2013
Vendra Venkata Pulla Rao, Agarwal Garima, Chandani Sushil, Talla Venu, Srinivasan Narayanaswamy, Balasubramanian Dorairajan
Abstract excerpt
BACKGROUND: We highlight an unrecognized physiological role for the Greek key motif, an evolutionarily conserved super-secondary structural topology of the βγ-crystallins. These proteins constitute the bulk of the human eye lens, packed at very high concentrations in a compact, globular, short-range order, generating transparency. Congenital cataract (affecting 400,000 newborns yearly worldwide), associated with...
Topics
- Amino Acid Motifs
- Animals
- Cloning, Molecular
- Humans
- Lens, Crystalline
- Mice
- Models, Molecular
- Mutation
- Protein Multimerization
- Protein Stability
- Protein Structure, Quaternary