[Parameters of lens protein fluorescence quenching in early stages of hereditary cataract]

Several physico-chemical parameters of lenses were investigated in IOR/Hab mice with hereditary cataract aged 4, 6, 8 weeks, i.e. at the stage preceding the development of cataract. The level of restored glutathione in the IOR/Hab lenses /2.0 mM/ was the lowest as compared to other lines but almost the same as in CBA/J /2.3 mM/. In the process of studying protein fluorescence quenching in cortex homogenates by nitrate anions a significant increase of the quenching constant was discovered in IOR/Hab mice: 10.4 M-1 in four-week animals and up to 32.3 M-1 in eight-week animals. The data obtained suggest that a progressing growth of the quenching constant in line IOR/Hab lenses is related to a decreased density of the protein negative charge resulted from their decreased phosphorylation.