Physiological and Pathological Functions of Crystallins

Dear Colleagues,

Crystallins are synonymous with the eye lens. Jöns Jacob Berzelius identified crystallin as the transparent substance of the eye lens in 1830, but it was not until 1894 that a systematic analysis was undertaken by Carl Mörner and they were identified as the structural proteins of the eye lens. Transparency, their importance to the optical properties, and their remarkable functional resilience over decades or even centuries mark them out as very special proteins. Crystallin proteins are unique cytoplasmic proteins known for their structure, solubility, stability, longevity, contributions to optical function with respect to transparency and refraction, post-translational modification, selective interactions, gene recruitment, and phylogeny. The “alpha” crystallins are members of the small heat shock protein chaperone family, whilst the beta and gamma crystallins are members of the calcium binding protein superfamily. Together, the crystallins are responsible for the transparency and optical properties of the eye lens, and remarkably, they can produce lenses with perfect optics. In this Special Issue, we will address the current understanding of lens transparency in the context of aging, of their phase separation properties and the adaptions needed to deliver optical function for vertebrates.

The life of a crystallin is not defined solely by their role in the lens. The alpha, beta, and gamma crystallins have functional roles in other tissues that link them to a range of human diseases, from cardiomyopathy to cancer and from neuroinflammation to schizophrenia. Such examples will be reviewed in this Special Issue in order to understand the structure–function relationship for these ancient proteins and their adaption to different cellular environments.

Prof. Dr. Roy Quinlan
Prof. Dr. John Clark
Guest Editors

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• crystallin
• small heat shock protein chaperone
• transparency
• phase separation
• aging
• age related disease
• cataract
• cancer
• schizophrenia
• fertility