Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Gene and protein structure of a β-crystallin polypeptide in murine lens: relationship of exons and structural motifs

Nature volume 302, pages 310–315 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

A 23,000 molecular weight β-crystallin (β23) of the murine eye lens is encoded in a 4.1±0.3-kilobase gene containing three introns. Each of the four exons seems to code for a separate structural motif of the protein, whose tertiary structure was predicted by an interactive computer graphics technique based on the crystallographic structure of bovine γII-crystallin. The first exon also encodes a hydrophobic N-terminal peptide resembling membrane anchor sequences of other proteins. Our results indicate structural homology among the β- and γ-crystallin polypeptides, and link gene structure with protein structure in this superfamily of lens proteins.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Harding, J. J. & Dilley, K. J. Expl Eye Res. 22, 1–73 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bloemendal, H. (ed.) Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Eye Lens (Wiley, New York, 1981).

  3. Clayton, R. M. in The Eye Vol. 5 (eds Davson, H. & Graham, L. T.) 399–494 (Academic, London, 1974).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Williams, L. A. & Piatigorsky, J. Eur. J. Biochem. 100, 349–357 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Papaconstantinou, J. Science 156, 338–346 (1967).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Piatigorsky, J. Differentiation 19, 134–153 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. de Jong, W. W. et al. Eur. J. Biochem. 53, 237–242 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. de Jong, W. W., Gleaves, J. T. & Boulter, D. J. molec. Evol. 10, 123–135 (1977).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Wilson, A. C., Carlson, S. S. & White, T. J. A. Rev. Biochem. 46, 573–639 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Piatigorsky, J. Biochemistry 20, 6427–6431 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. de Jong, W. W., Stapel, S. O. & Zweers, A. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 69 B, 593–598 (1981).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Yu, N. T., East, E. J. & Chang, R. C. C. Expl Eye Res. 24, 321–334 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Horwitz, J. & Piatigorsky, J. Biochim. biophys. Acta 624, 21–29 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Driessen, H. P. C., Herbrink, P., Bloemendal, H. & de Jong, W. W. Eur. J. Biochem. 121, 83–91 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Inana, G., Shinohara, T., Maizel, J. V. Jr & Piatigorsky, J. J. biol. Chem. 257, 9064–9071 (1982).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Croft, L. R. Biochem. J. 128, 961–970 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Dayhoff, M. O. Atlas of Protein Sequence and Structure Vol. 5, Suppl. 3 (National Biomedical Research Foundation, Silver Spring, Maryland, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Blundell, T. L. et al. Nature 289, 771–777 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Wistow, G. et al. FEBS Lett. 133, 9–16 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Southern, E. M. J. molec. Biol. 98, 503–517 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Hejtmancik, J. F. J. biol. Chem. (in the press).

  22. Breathnach, R. & Chambon, P. A. Rev. Biochem. 50, 349–383 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Engelman, D. M. & Steitz, T. A. Cell 23, 411–422 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Piatigorsky, J. Curr. Topics Eye Res. 3, 1–39 (1980).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Kador, P. F., Fukui, H. N., Fukushi, S., Jernigan, H. M. & Kinoshita, J. H. Expl Eye Res. 30, 59–68 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Zigler, J. S., Carper, D. A. & Kinoshita, J. H. Ophthal. Res. 13, 237–251 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Carper, D., Shinohara, T., Piatigorsky, J. & Kinoshita, J. H. Science 217, 463–464 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Li, L-K. & Spector, A. Expl Eye Res. 13, 110–119 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Van der Ouderaa, F. J., de Jong, W. & Bloemendal, H. Eur. J. Biochem. 39, 207–222 (1973).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. de Jong, W. W. et al. Eur. J. Biochem. 53, 237–242 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Piatigorsky, J., Zelenka, P. & Simpson, R. T. Expl Eye Res. 18, 435–446 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Piatigorsky, J., Horwitz, J. & Simpson, R. T. Biochim. biophys. Acta 490, 279–289 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Chang, S. H. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 3398–4302 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Rossmann, M. G., Moras, D. & Olsen, K. W. Nature 250, 194–199 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Schulz, G. E. & Schirmer, R. H. Principles of Protein Structure (Springer, Heidelberg, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Gilbert, W. Nature 271, 501 (1978); ICN-UCLA Symp. molec. cell. Biol. 14, 1–12 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Blake, C. C. F. Nature 273, 267 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. Tonegawa, S., Maxam, A. M., Tizard, R., Bernard, O. & Gilbert, W. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 1485–1489 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Sakano, H. et al. Nature 277, 627–633 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Tilghman, S. M. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 725–729 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Jeffreys, A. J. & Flavell, R. A. Cell 12, 1097–1108 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Leder, A. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 6187–6191 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Craik, C. S., Buchman, S. R. & Beychok, S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 1384–1388 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Eaton, W. A. Nature 284, 183–185 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Go, M. Nature 291, 90–92 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Stein, J. P., Catterall, J. F., Kristo, P., Means, A. R. & O'Malley, B. W. Cell 21, 681–687 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Bhat, S. P., Jones, R. E., Sullivan, M. A. & Piatigorsky, J. Nature 284, 234–238 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Jones, R. E., Bhat, S. P., Sullivan, M. A. & Piatigorsky, J. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 5879–5883 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Yasuda, K., Kondoh, H., Okada, T. S., Nakajima, N. & Shimura, Y. Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 2879–2891 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Piatigorsky, J. J. biol. Chem. 251, 4416–4420 (1976).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Reszelbach, R., Shinohara, T. & Piatigorsky, J. Expl Eye Res. 25, 583–593 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Narebor, E., Slingsby, C., Lindley, P. F. & Blundell, T. L. J. molec. Biol. 143, 223–225 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Maniatis, T., Jeffrey, A. & Kleid, D. C. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 1184–1188 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Grunstein, M. & Hogness, D. S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 3961–3965 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Seif, I., Khoury, G. & Dhar, R. Nucleic Acids Res. 8, 2225–2240 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Berk, A. J. & Sharp, P. A. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 1274–1278 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Wistow, G. thesis, Univ. London (1982).

  58. Jones, T. A. J. appl. Crystallogr. 11, 268–272 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Rice, C. M., Bell, J. R., Hunkapiller, M. W., Strauss, E. G. & Strauss, J. H. J. molec. Biol. 154, 355–378 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Rogers, J. et al. Cell 20, 303–312 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. Frank, G. et al. FEBS Lett. 96, 183–188 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. Haugen, D. A., Armes, L. G., Yasunobu, K. T. & Coon, M. J. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 77, 967–973 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. Lomedico, P. et al. Cell 18, 545–558 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Bhat, S. P. & Piatigorsky, J. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 3299–3303 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    George Inana, Joram Piatigorsky, Barbara Norman, Christine Slingsby & Tom Blundell

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Crystallography, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, WC1E 7HX, UK

    George Inana, Joram Piatigorsky, Barbara Norman, Christine Slingsby & Tom Blundell

Authors
  1. George Inana
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joram Piatigorsky
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Barbara Norman
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Christine Slingsby
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tom Blundell
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Inana, G., Piatigorsky, J., Norman, B. et al. Gene and protein structure of a β-crystallin polypeptide in murine lens: relationship of exons and structural motifs. Nature 302, 310–315 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302310a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/302310a0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing