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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Missense Mutations In The Gamma Crystallins And Mechanisms Of Lens Opacity, Wenjuan Hou
Missense Mutations In The Gamma Crystallins And Mechanisms Of Lens Opacity, Wenjuan Hou
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Cataract, or clouding of the ocular lens, among the most common types of eye diseases, is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. With the opacity or clouding of the lens, light incident on the lens is scattered rather than being transmitted and is thus prevented from focusing on the retina. The lens becomes cataractous due to a large number of reasons, among which aging and genetic mutations are two of the most common factors. Clouding of the center of the lens or nuclear opacity, is the most frequently observed type of age-onset cataract, as well as inherited, congenital cataract [1, …
Modeling Chaperone-Substrate Interactions Of Alpha Crystallin From The Ocular Lens, Lisa Marie S. Ramirez
Modeling Chaperone-Substrate Interactions Of Alpha Crystallin From The Ocular Lens, Lisa Marie S. Ramirez
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
The α-crystallins (αA- and αB-crystallin isoforms) from the ocular lens are small heat shock proteins and molecular chaperones, widely believed to play a significant role in protecting the lens from cataract. Mutations and modifications on human αA- and αB-crystallin (HAA and HAB, respectively) are linked to a variety of diseases, including cataract formation, neuropathological protein folding disorders, and many others. It is believed that HAA and HAB prevent the aggregation of other lens proteins. However, the structural and thermodynamic details of the chaperone-substrate (aka “client”) interaction are sparse. Therefore, the main objective of this dissertation is to reveal structural and …
Modeling The Early, Aging-Related Changes In Human Recombinant Gammas-Crystallin In Vitro, Christiana Oluwaseun Salami
Modeling The Early, Aging-Related Changes In Human Recombinant Gammas-Crystallin In Vitro, Christiana Oluwaseun Salami
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world. Cataractous lenses scatter a significant part of the light entering the eye. Cataract can be of several types: Age-related cataract, secondary cataract, traumatic cataract, congenital cataract, and radiation cataract. Age-related cataract is the most common type of cataract. Several factors contribute to age-onset cataract; among them are the Post-Translational Modifications (PTMs) to the major lens proteins or crystallins, which constitute about 80-90% of the protein content of the lens. Predominant PTMs of the crystallins are oxidation, deamidation, phosphorylation, glycation, and disulfide crosslinking, which tend to increase as the lens ages.
Biophysical Investigations Of The Molecular Basis Of Cataract Associated With The R76s Mutation In Human Gammad-Crystallin, Vurghun Ahmadov
Biophysical Investigations Of The Molecular Basis Of Cataract Associated With The R76s Mutation In Human Gammad-Crystallin, Vurghun Ahmadov
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Cataract disease results when the eye lens becomes opaque and scatters a significant part of the incoming light into the eye. The lens contains very high concentrations of the lens proteins, called crystallins, which are present at concentrations comparable to those found in protein crystals (about 400-600 mg/mL). Chemical modifications of the crystallins, such as oxidation and deamidation, or genetic mutations are known to result in increased light-scattering in vitro, and are implicated in cataract formation in vivo. Here we present the in vitro work on a mutant protein of human gammaD crystallin (HGD), namely R76S (i.e. Arg 76 to …
Homologous And Heterologous Crystallin Protein Interactions As The Molecular Basis Of Inherited Cataract, Priya Ranjan Banerjee
Homologous And Heterologous Crystallin Protein Interactions As The Molecular Basis Of Inherited Cataract, Priya Ranjan Banerjee
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Age-related cataract is the most common cause of blindness worldwide. Nearly fifty percent of Americans above the age of 75 are diagnosed with this disease (http://www.nei.nih.gov/eyedata/pbd_tables.asp), and surgical intervention is the sole method of treatment at present (http://www.nei.nih.gov/healthyvision/objective/cataracts.asp). In the developing world, even this treatment is not readily available. These are compelling reasons to search for better treatments to delay, prevent or arrest cataract formation. Recent evidence suggests that age-related cataracts also have a genetic component. Therefore, determining the mechanisms underlying genetic cataracts with a known association to a protein-mutation is one important strategy towards understanding the molecular basis for …