Comparison of the lens crystallin proteins from normal, rd, and rds mutant mice utilizing specific monoclonal...

The lens proteins from three lines of congenic mice which are homozygous for the gene retinal degeneration (rd) or retinal degeneration slow (rds) or carrying the normal alleles (normal) were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and by immunological reactivity to specific monoclonal antibodies. The lens proteins of normal, rd, and rds mice showed a similar developmental pattern between postnatal day 0 and postnatal day 30. The expression of the 25000 molecular weight (MW) beta-crystallin polypeptide which appears postnatally in the normal lens was not affected by retinal abnormalities in the mutant mice. It is concluded that the regulation of the 25000 MW beta-crystallin polypeptide is not dependent upon differentiation or maintenance of the photoreceptor outer segments or continued presence of the photoreceptor cells.