Homology Modeling of Alpha-crystallin: Analysis of a Conserved N-terminal Structural Motif and its Interaction with the Central Core

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: To investigate the functional role and potentially conserved structural motifs of the N-terminal region of alpha-crystallin that precedes the central core, based on analogies to other members of the small heat shock protein superfamily. Methods: Primary sequence alignments of representative samples were initially generated using the programs PILEUP and CLUSTAL W and the pairwise alignment program ALINORM, then further refined manually. The homology model of alphaA-crystallin was derived from the crystallographic structures of methanococcus HSP 16.5 and wheat HSP 16.9.  

Keywords: crystallins • protein structure/function • molecular biology