UV-B induced changes of eye-lens crystallins
Age related cataract is the major cause of blindness worldwide. With the age of 75 years, more than 50% of all people are affected and so far, surgery is the only effective treatment available. For this reason it is important to understand the complex system of the eye lens especially effects of aging like chronic UV-B irradiation.
Many modifications of crystallins by UV-B on already aggregated and destroyed protein have been found. So far, changes in the soluble fractions of the protein are not well investigated. Answering this question, different techniques of solution NMR have been applied to native and irradiated hgD-crystallin to identify and characterize a modified but still soluble state of the protein. This would highlight the first structural changes on the transition from functional soluble protein to dysfunctional aggregates.
Location: MLU, Von-Danckelmann-Platz 3, SR 1.06 Time: 3.30pm
