Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Vol.174, No.2, 739-750, 2014
The Effect of Arg on the Structure Perturbation and Chaperone Activity of alpha-Crystallin in the Presence of the Crowding Agent, Dextran
alpha-Crystallin is a protein that is expressed at high levels in all vertebrate eye lenses. It has a molecular weight of 20 kDa and is composed of two subunits: alpha A and alpha B. alpha-Crystallin is a member of the small heat shock protein (sHsps) family that has been shown to prevent protein aggregation. Small molecules are organic compounds that have low molecular weight (< 800 Da). Arginin (Arg) is a small molecule and has been shown to prevent protein aggregation through interaction with partially folded intermediates. In this study, the effect of Arg on the chaperone activity of alpha-crystallin in the presence of dextran, as a crowding agent, against ordered and disordered aggregation of different target proteins (alpha-lactalbumin, ovotransferrin, and catalase) has been investigated. The experiments were done using visible absorption spectroscopy, ThT-binding assay, fluorescence spectroscopy, and CD spectroscopy. The results showed that in amorphous aggregation and amyloid fibril formation, both in the presence and absence of dextran, Arg had a positive effect on the chaperone action of alpha-crystallin. However, in the presence of dextran, the effect of Arg on the chaperone ability of alpha-crystallin was less than in its absence. Thus, our result suggests that crowding interior media decreases the positive effect of Arg on the chaperone ability of alpha-crystallin. This is a very important issue, since we are trying to find a mechanism to protect living cells against the toxic effect of protein aggregation.