Age-related changes in the water-soluble lens protein composition of Wistar and accelerated-senescence OXYS rats

作者：Kopylova Lyudmila V; Cherepanov Ivan V; Snytnikova Olga A; Rumyantseva Yuliya V; Kolosova Nataliya G; Tsentalovich Yuri P^*; Sagdeev Renad Z

来源：Molecular Vision, 2011, 17(164): 1457-1466.

Purpose: To determine the age-related and the cataract-specific changes in the crystallin composition in lenses of accelerated-senescence OXYS (cataract model) and Wistar (control) rats.
Methods: The water soluble (WS) and insoluble (WIS) fractions of the lens proteins were separated; the identity and relative abundance of each crystallin in WS fraction were determined with the use of two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization - Time Of Flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. All statistical calculations were performed using the software package Statistica 6.0 by factor dispersion analysis (ANOVA/MANOVA) and Newman-Keuls post-hoc test for comparison of group mean values.
Results: The WIS protein content increased significantly in the aged animal lenses; the WIS/WS ratio increases in approximately 8 times to the age of 62 weeks. The interstrain difference was insignificant in this experiment. 2-DE maps of the young rat lenses (3 weeks) showed single spots for each lens protein while in older lenses (12 and 62 weeks) each crystallin was presented by several spots. The abundance of gamma A-gamma F-crystallins in WS fraction significantly decreases with age. A significant increase in the percentage abundance was also found for alpha-crystallins and beta B2-crystallin from 3 to 12 weeks. The major differences between Wistar and OXYS lenses are the faster decay of the content of gamma A-gamma F-crystallins in OXYS lenses, and the significant decrease of unmodified alpha A-crystallin abundance in old OXYS lenses.
Conclusions: The presented results demonstrate that the increase of the water-insoluble (WIS) protein fraction is rather age-specific than cataract-specific phenomenon. The major age-related changes in WS protein composition are the fast insolubilization of gamma-crystallins, and the increase of alpha B- and beta B2-crystallin abundance. The main interstrain differences, which could be attributed to the cataract-specific processes, are the faster decay of the content of gamma-crystallins and the significant decrease of unmodified alpha A-crystallin abundance in the OXYS lenses.

• 出版日期2011-6-1