波形蛋白与糖皮质激素性白内障发病关系的研究进展

长期全身或局部应用糖皮质激素较易导致晶状体后囊膜混浊,形成糖皮质激素性白内障,机理尚不明确。随着糖皮质激素在器官移植、免疫系统障碍、过敏及创伤救治等治疗过程中的大量应用,激素性白内障的发生率也大幅上升,因此,糖皮质激素性白内障也越来越受到人们的重视。目前对于糖皮质激素性白内障的发病机制尚不明确,主流的包括氧化-构象学说、蛋白复合物形成学说、细胞粘附分子异常学说及糖皮质激素作用于糖皮质激素受体从而发生改变的学说。激素发生改变的方法也许同晶状体蛋白共同作用或者协同作用均相关,就像通过细胞调控、粘附调节、受体等协同作用发生改变。而以往的研究表明波形蛋白在晶状体上皮细胞中正确和准确的存在,可起着保持晶状体细胞基本状态的首要作用。同时波形蛋白在晶状体里的反应会导致晶状体上皮细胞的变化,及晶状体细胞基本状态的变化。近来研究发现,糖皮质激素受体介导的晶状体波形蛋白的改变参与了激素性白内障的形成。     

醛糖还原酶在糖尿病性白内障中的作用

醛糖还原酶(aldose reductase,AR)是糖代谢多元醇(山梨醇)通路的第一个关键酶。在哺乳动物细胞中,正常血糖(3.8-6.1mmol/L)下,细胞中的葡萄糖主要由己糖激酶将其磷酸化转化为葡萄糖-6-磷酸,并进入糖酵解途径。只有微量的非磷酸化的葡萄糖(约3%)进入多元醇通路。然而,在高血糖状态(7 mmol/L)下,大于30%的葡萄糖通过多元醇途径代谢。多元醇途径中的第一步反应是由AR催化的还原型烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸磷酸(nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate,NADPH)依赖性还原反应,将葡萄糖还原为山梨醇,并消耗NADPH。第二步反应是由山梨醇脱氢酶催化烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸(Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide,NAD)依赖性氧化反应,将山梨醇氧化为果糖,并消耗NAD产生NADH。AR在糖尿病性白内障形成过程中扮演着重要的角色,AR活性增高可以引发细胞内渗透压的改变,非酶糖基化的激活,氧化应激等,不同结构的AR抑制剂可以有效的阻止白内障的形成。本文主要对AR引起的这些改变在糖尿病性白内障形成过程中参与的机制以及AR抑制剂的研发与应用进行综述。     

小分子热休克蛋白的结构与功能

小分子热休克蛋白(small heat shock protein,sHsp)是相对分子质量介于12~43 kDa的热休克蛋白家族成员,广泛存在于生物体内。根据相关报道,该类蛋白在组成上都含有α-晶状体蛋白结构域(α-crystalline domain,ACD)、N端臂和C端延伸结构。sHsp是生命体中一种重要的分子伴侣,对蛋白质的变性过程有很强的保护作用。生物体中sHsp的生物状态发生改变会引起机体发生病变,而sHsp的正常存在则可以延缓细胞衰老,并降低细胞凋亡率。现综述有关sHsp在细胞凋亡中的控制作用,以及与其相关的神经退行性疾病、癌症、白内障等多种病变的发病机制,以期为相关研究提供参考。     

金钗石斛生物碱抗糖性白内障作用及蛋白质组学效应的实验研究

为观察金钗石斛生物碱抗糖性自内障作用及其相关蛋白谱.将Wistar大鼠随机分为正常对照组、模型组、样品高、低剂量组和阳性对照组,每组10只,模型组腹腔注射D-半乳糖诱导大鼠白内障模型,样品高、低剂量组和阳性对照组在注射D-半乳糖26 d后形成Ⅱ级白内障后每天分别给予0.36、0.18 g/kg金钗石斛总生物碱灌胃进行实验性治疗,阳性对照组每天以0.22 g/kg石斛夜光丸灌胃,正常对照组每天仅灌胃生理盐水;用裂隙灯观察观察晶状体浑浊度;46 d后处死动物后检测晶状体水溶性蛋白、GSH的含量及T-SOD和MDA的活性;使用双向电泳技术提取分离大鼠晶状体总蛋白及糖基化蛋白,分析比较双向电泳图谱,寻找正常组与模型组、生物碱治疗组大鼠晶状体蛋白质组学差异.结果金钗石斛生物碱高剂量组能明显减轻晶状体混浊度,显著升高晶状体水溶性蛋白、GSH含量及T-SOD活性,降低MDA的活性;2-DE获得了较好的大鼠晶状体总蛋白质及糖基化蛋白质的双向电泳图谱,并观察到模型组有大量蛋白质点表达上调或下调或新蛋白,蛋白质糖基化水平升高,给予高剂量石斛生物碱后,大部分达上调或下调蛋白质恢复到正常的水平,糖基化蛋白降低.表明金钗石斛生物碱具有较好的抗糖性白内障作用,并伴随一系列晶状体蛋白质表达水平的改变,其差异蛋白可能参与了晶状体浑浊过程.     

大鼠βB2—晶体蛋白的克隆,高效表达及纯化

β－晶体蛋白是含量最高的一组晶状体结构蛋白。它的正常结构对维持晶状体的高折射系数和透明至关重要,而其结构的改变与白内障的形成密切相关。为了获得大量纯的βＢ２－晶体蛋白并用定点突变的方法研究其聚合的机制,建立了大鼠βＢ２－晶体蛋白的细菌表达系统及纯化方法。用ＲＴ－ＰＣＲ的方法克隆了β－晶体蛋白中含量最高的βＢ２－晶体蛋白的ｃＤＮＡ。用苯啶酮酸诱导ｒｅｃＡ启动子后,蛋白质在大肠杆菌中得到了高效表达。β     

三硝基甲苯中毒性白内障动物模型的建立及其发病机理的初步研究

反复多次给大鼠皮下注射20％三硝基甲苯(TNT)甘油:水混悬液,染毒15个月后21％动物发生白内障,其裂隙灯检查结果与人TNT性白内障基本相似,同时注射甘油:水溶剂的对照组大鼠无一例发生白内障。染毒10个月的大鼠,其晶状体LPO增高,GSH-P_X及GST活性降低,GR活性无变化,而GSH含量明显增加;注射TNT后肝脏LPO值、GSH含量、GSH-P_X、GR及GST活性均明显增高。本文结果提示,TNT中毒性白内障的形成可能系TNT及其代谢产物直接作用于晶状体,造成昌状体氧化损伤所致。TNT白内障大鼠模型的建立亦为深入探讨其发病机理及防治奠定了基础。     

小檗胺对大鼠糖尿病性白内障模型中DNA损伤修复及致障过程的影响

利用链脲佐菌素（ＳＴＺ）引起的大鼠糖尿病性实验性白内障模型,观察小檗胺对晶状体上皮细胞ＤＮＡ损伤、修复及致障过程的影响．发现ＳＴＺ对照组在腹腔注射ＳＴＺ后３～４ｄ开始出现有显著意义的ＤＮＡ单链断裂（ｓｉｎｇｌｅｓｔｒａｎｄｂｒｅａｋｓ,ＳＳＢ）,并持续存在于发病全程直至晶状体完全混浊．而在注射ＳＴＺ后１２ｈ再腹腔注射３．４８ｍｇ／ｋｇ体重,１．７４ｍｇ／ｋｇ体重小檗胺后,一周后才出现有显著意义的ＳＳＢ．３．４８ｍｇ／ｋｇ体重组在５周后白内障形成率明显低于ＳＴＺ组的同时,ＳＳＢ也恢复到对照水平,而１．７４ｍｇ／ｋｇ体重组第７周才恢复到对照水平．提示抗氧化药物小檗胺能在一定程度上阻止白内障发生过程中的ＤＮＡ损伤．     

羊毛甾醇可以减轻白内障

<正>白内障(cataract)是由于人眼晶状体(lens)出现混浊,使视力发生障碍,影响成像质量的疾病,是目前全球第一大致盲性眼病。手术摘除混浊的晶状体是目前唯一可以治愈白内障,使患者重获光明的治疗手段。长期以来,开发可以治疗白内障的眼药水是眼科医生的梦想。晶状体内的(crystallin)对于保持晶状体的透明性至关重要,白内障的发生主要由晶状体蛋白的聚集引起。前人研究发     

四种中草药抗白内障形成中晶状体脂类过氧化水平及脂类含量的变化

我们观察了中草药防治大鼠半乳糖性白内障形成中脂类含量的变化及脂类过氧化水平。结果表明,与正常晶状体相比,白内障晶状体中总脂类的含量明显降低,总胆固醇的含量及脂类过氧化水平明显升高,总脂类与总胆固醇之比明显下降。而同时分别用黄苓、石斛、菟丝子及玉蝴蝶四种中草药水煎剂灌胃的大鼠晶状体中,总胆类与总胆固醇的含量基本恢复至正常;脂类过氧化水平虽仍高于正常晶状体,但也明显低于白内障晶状体,表明脂类过氧化参与了白内障的形成,上述四种中草药具有抑制脂类过氧化的作用。     

四种中草药对大鼠半乳糖性白内障氧化还原物质及糖类含量的影响

对正常和半乳糖性白内障及给中草药的大鼠晶状体中某些吡啶核苷酸成分、糖类、非蛋白质巯基的含量进行了比较。结果表明,在白内障晶状体中,NADPH及非蛋白质巯基的含量明显低于正常晶状体的,而NADP、半乳糖及半乳糖醇的含量明显高于正常晶状体的;当注射半乳糖的同时分别用黄岑、石斛、菟丝子及玉蝴蝶四种中草药水煎剂灌胃,上述变化为基本恢复至正常晶状体的水平。表明四种中草药对晶状体中的异常生化变化具有阻止及纠正作用。     

Effect of Sorbitol on Alpha-Crystallin Structure and Function

Biochemistry (Moscow) - Loss of eye lens transparency due to cataract is the leading cause of blindness all over the world. While aggregation of lens crystallins is the most common endpoint in...     

Protein oxidation and loss of protease activity may lead to cataract formation in the aged lens

Over 95% of the dry mass of the eye lens consists of specialized proteins called crystallins. Aged lenses are subject to cataract formation, in which damage, cross-linking, and precipitation of crystallins contribute to a loss of lens clarity. Cataract is one of the major causes of blindness, and it is estimated that over 50,000,000 people suffer from this disability. Damage to lens crystallins appears to be largely attributable to the effects of UV radiation and/or various active oxygen species (oxygen radicals, ¹O₂, H₂O₂, etc.). Photooxidative damage to lens crystallins is normally retarded by a series of antioxidant enzymes and compounds. Crystallins which experience mild oxidative damage are rapidly degraded by a system of lenticular proteases. However, extensive oxidation and cross-linking severely decrease proteolytic susceptibility of lens crystallins. Thus, in the young lens the combination of antioxidants and proteases serves to prevent crystallin damage and precipitation in cataract formation. The aged lens, however, exhibits diminished antioxidant capacity and decreased proteolytic capabilities. The loss of proteolytic activity may actually be partially attributable to oxidative damage which proteases (like any other protein)_can sustain. We propose that the rate of crystallin damage increases as antioxidant capacity declines with age. The lower protease activity of aged lens cells may be insufficient to cope with such rates of crystallin damage, and denatured crystallins may begin to accumulate. As the concentration of oxidatively denatured crystallins rises, cross-linking reactions may produce insoluble aggregates which are refractive to protease digestion. Such a scheme could explain many events which are known to contribute to cataract formation, as well as several which have appeared to be unrelated. This hypothesis is also open to experimental verification and intervention.     

Biophysical chemistry of the ageing eye lens

This review examines both recent and historical literature related to the biophysical chemistry of the proteins in the ageing eye, with a particular focus on cataract development. The lens is a vital component of the eye, acting as an optical focusing device to form clear images on the retina. The lens maintains the necessary high transparency and refractive index by expressing crystallin proteins in high concentration and eliminating all large cellular structures that may cause light scattering. This has the consequence of eliminating lens fibre cell metabolism and results in mature lens fibre cells having no mechanism for protein expression and a complete absence of protein recycling or turnover. As a result, the crystallins are some of the oldest proteins in the human body. Lack of protein repair or recycling means the lens tends to accumulate damage with age in the form of protein post-translational modifications. The crystallins can be subject to a wide range of age-related changes, including isomerisation, deamidation and racemisation. Many of these modification are highly correlated with cataract formation and represent a biochemical mechanism for age-related blindness.     

Human cataract: the mechanisms responsible; light and butterfly eyes

Age-related cataract is the leading cause of world blindness. Until recently, the biochemical mechanisms that result in human cataract formation have remained a mystery. In the case of nuclear cataract, it is becoming apparent that changes that take place within the lens at middle age may be ultimately responsible. The centre of the lens contains proteins that were synthesised prior to birth and while these crystallins are remarkably stable, it appears that an antioxidant environment may be necessary in order for them to remain soluble and for lens transparency. Once an internal barrier to the movement of small molecules, such as antioxidants, develops in the normal lens at middle age, the long-lived proteins in the lens centre become susceptible both to covalent attachment of reactive molecules, such as UV filters, and to oxidation. These processes of protein modification may, over time, lead inevitably to lens opacification and cataract.     

The human crystallin gene families

Crystallins are the abundant, long-lived proteins of the eye lens. The major human crystallins belong to two different superfamilies: the small heat-shock proteins (α-crystallins) and the βγ-crystallins. During evolution, other proteins have sometimes been recruited as crystallins to modify the properties of the lens. In the developing human lens, the enzyme betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase serves such a role. Evolutionary modification has also resulted in loss of expression of some human crystallin genes or of specific splice forms. Crystallin organization is essential for lens transparency and mutations; even minor changes to surface residues can cause cataract and loss of vision.     

Crystallins and hereditary cataracts: molecular mechanisms and potential for therapy

Hereditary childhood cataracts can arise from single-point mutations in genes encoding crystallins, the major protein components of the lens. The cataracts are most commonly inherited by an autosomal dominant mechanism. The nature of the changes in the lens resulting from these point mutations in crystallin genes has not been fully characterised. While aggregation and light scattering associated with expression of the mutant crystallin protein may be an end point, it is also necessary to determine the progression of changes induced at the level of development and differentiation. A key finding in recent work is that cell death or cytotoxicity is associated with mutations in alpha A-crystallin. The variable morphology or localisation of the cataract in different pedigrees, even with the identical crystallin gene mutation, has led to the idea that other environmental or genetic factors interact to give the final lens phenotype. The study of mechanisms of formation of hereditary cataracts may lead to a greater understanding of the mechanisms that lead to age-related cataracts, a very common cause of blindness in the ageing population.     

Effect of chronic hyperglycemia on crystallin levels in rat lens

Crystallins are the major structural proteins in the vertebrate eye lens that contribute to lens transparency. Although cataract, including diabetic cataract, is thought to be a result of the accumulation of crystallins with various modifications, the effect of hyperglycemia on status of crystallin levels has not been investigated. This study evaluated the effect of chronic hyperglycemia on crystallin levels in diabetic cataractous rat lens. Diabetes was induced in rats by injecting streptozotocin and maintained on hyperglycemia for a period of 10 weeks. At the end, levels of α-, β-, γ-crystallins and phosphoforms of αB-crystallins (αBC) were analyzed by immunoblotting. Further, solubility of crystallins and phosphoforms of αBC was analyzed by detergent soluble assay. Chronic diabetes significantly decreased the protein levels of α-, β- and αA-crystallins (αAC) in both soluble and insoluble fraction of lens. Whereas γ-crystallin levels were decreased and αBC levels were increased in lens soluble fraction with no change in insoluble fraction in diabetic rat lens. Although, diabetes activated the p38MAPK signaling cascade by increasing the p-p38MAPK in lens, the phosphoforms of αBC were decreased in soluble fraction with a concomitant increase in insoluble fraction of diabetic lens when compared to the controls. Moreover, diabetes strongly enhances the degradation of crystallins and phosphoforms of αBC in lens. Taken together, the decreased levels of crystallins and insolubilization of phosphoforms of αBC under chronic hyperglycemia could be one of the underlying factors in the development of diabetic cataract.     

Cumulative deamidations of the major lens protein γS‐crystallin increase its aggregation during unfolding and oxidation

Age‐related lens cataract is the major cause of blindness worldwide. The mechanisms whereby crystallins, the predominant lens proteins, assemble into large aggregates that scatter light within the lens, and cause cataract, are poorly understood. Due to the lack of protein turnover in the lens, crystallins are long‐lived. A major crystallin, γS, is heavily modified by deamidation, in particular at surface‐exposed N14, N76, and N143 to introduce negative charges. In this present study, deamidated γS was mimicked by mutation with aspartate at these sites and the effect on biophysical properties of γS was assessed via dynamic light scattering, chemical and thermal denaturation, hydrogen‐deuterium exchange, and susceptibility to disulfide cross‐linking. Compared with wild type γS, a small population of each deamidated mutant aggregated rapidly into large, light‐scattering species that contributed significantly to the total scattering. Under partially denaturing conditions in guanidine hydrochloride or elevated temperature, deamidation led to more rapid unfolding and aggregation and increased susceptibility to oxidation. The triple mutant was further destabilized, suggesting that the effects of deamidation were cumulative. Molecular dynamics simulations predicted that deamidation augments the conformational dynamics of γS. We suggest that these perturbations disrupt the native disulfide arrangement of γS and promote the formation of disulfide‐linked aggregates. The lens‐specific chaperone αA‐crystallin was poor at preventing the aggregation of the triple mutant. It is concluded that surface deamidations cause minimal structural disruption individually, but cumulatively they progressively destabilize γS‐crystallin leading to unfolding and aggregation, as occurs in aged and cataractous lenses.     

Modifications of human betaA1/betaA3-crystallins include S-methylation, glutathiolation, and truncation

Disulfide bonding of lens crystallins contributes to the aggregation and insolubilization of these proteins that leads to cataract. A high concentration of reduced glutathione is believed to be key in preventing oxidation of crystallin sulfhydryls to form disulfide bonds. This protective role is decreased in aged lenses because of lower glutathione levels, especially in the nucleus. We recently found that human gamma-crystallins undergo S-methylation at exposed cysteine residues, a reaction that may prevent disulfide bonding. We report here that betaA1/A3-crystallins are also methylated at specific cysteine residues and are the most heavily methylated of the human lens crystallins. Among the methylated sites, Cys 64, Cys 99, and Cys 167 of betaA1-crystallin, methylation at Cys 99 is highest. Cys 64 and Cys 99 are also glutathiolated, even in a newborn lens. These post-translational modifications of the exposed cysteines may be important for maintaining the crystallin structure required for lens transparency. Previously unreported N-terminal truncations were also found.     

High level of ferritin light chain mRNA in lens

Ferritin is of particular interest with regard to cataract because (i) cataract occurs in individuals with hereditary hyperferritinemia cataract syndrome (HHCS), a condition in which ferritin light chain (L-ferritin) protein is overexpressed systemically, and (ii) ferritin is an important regulator of oxidative stress, a primary factor in the etiology of aging-related cataract. From gene array analysis two novel observations were made with respect to ferritin gene expression: first, lenses from guinea pigs and humans have disproportionately high levels of L-ferritin mRNA relative to the amounts of ferritin protein present, and second, L-ferritin message increased markedly in lenses from guinea pigs with hereditary nuclear cataract. The human lens L-ferritin sequence was identical to previous data from human liver; the guinea pig sequence was 86% identical to the human sequence at the amino acid level. Despite mRNA levels similar to those of major lens crystallins, lens ferritin was undetectable by Western blot techniques.