Variation in the relative abundance of gamma-crystallin gene transcripts during development and ageing

The transcripts of gamma-crystallin mRNA were examined during adulthood. The mRNA transcripts were detected by Northern blot technique. Although the total RNA per lens measured remains constant during adulthood, the mRNA transcript size was observed to decline with ageing, specifically for the gamma-crystallin and not for alpha- and beta-crystallins. We could show that the relative amount of mRNA transcripts detected with the four probes decreased with ageing, with gamma 1 and gamma 2 transcripts being found at a higher level than the gamma 3 and gamma 4 transcripts.