Molecular mass distribution of water-soluble crystallins from the human foetal lens during development.

The water-soluble crystallins of twenty human foetal lenses with gestational ages of 112-231 days were analysed by size-exclusion chromatography. The crystallin distribution showed similar patterns for all foetal lenses, but clear changes in the proportions of different crystallins were evident. The distribution showed that the water-soluble part of all the lenses already contained high-molecular-mass material. Also beta-crystallins of high molecular mass (beta H), formed by post-translational changes, were detected in all stages. During gestation, the percentage of high-molecular-mass crystallins and of alpha-crystallins of low molecular mass (alpha L) decreased significantly. The total beta-crystallins (beta T) and the total gamma-crystallins (gamma T) increased significantly. The low Mr crystallins were resolved into three peaks, designated beta s-, gamma H- and gamma L-crystallins. They increased significantly during development. These significant increases of the low Mr crystallins took place exclusively in the developing lens. The rate of protein synthesis of the low Mr crystallins was 23% of the total water-soluble crystallin synthesis rate.