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. 1971 Sep;124(2):337–343. doi: 10.1042/bj1240337

α-Crystallin. The isolation and characterization of distinct macromolecular fractions

Abraham Spector 1, Lu-Ku Li 1, Robert C Augusteyn 1, Arthur Schneider 1, Thomas Freund 1
PMCID: PMC1177148  PMID: 5158502

Abstract

α-Crystallin was isolated from calf lens periphery by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration. Three distinct populations of macromolecules have been isolated with molecular weights in the ranges approx. 6×105−9×105, 0.9×106−4×106 and greater than 10×106. The concentration of macromolecules at the molecular-weight limits of a population are very low. The members of the different populations do not appear to be in equilibrium with each other. Further, in those molecular-weight fractions investigated, no equilibrium between members of the same population was observed. The population of lowest molecular weight comprises 65–75% of the total material. The amino acid and subunit composition of the different-sized fractions appear very similar, if not identical. The only chemical difference observed between the fractions is the presence of significant amounts of sugar in the higher-molecular-weight fractions. Subunit molecular weights of approx. 19.5×103 and 22.5×103 were observed for all α-crystallin fractions.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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