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First published online December 3, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, iii (2004)
Copyright © 2004 The Company of Biologists Limited
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01385
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Inside JEB

BLINDINGLY COLD

Yfke van Bergen

yfke{at}biologists.com


At subzero temperatures, many animals would discover that their eye lenses go cloudy as they develop cold-induced cataracts. But the giant Antarctic toothfish has no problems seeing, despite living in permanently freezing Antarctic seas. To investigate the incredible cold stability of Antarctic toothfish eye lens proteins, Andor Kiss, Art DeVries and Chi-Hing Cheng at the University of Illinois decided to compare lens crystallin proteins from Antarctic toothfish, warm-water fish and cows (p. 4633). They hoped that studying lenses from three different thermal environments would shed light on the relationship between lens protein cold-stability and body temperature over evolutionary timescales.

The team already knew that eye lenses contain three classes of protein: {alpha}, ß and {gamma} crystallins. Mammalian {alpha} crystallin is a small heat shock protein with chaperone-like ability, that is, it prevents the aggregation and precipitation of heat-damaged proteins. Using in vitro chaperone assays the team found that fish {alpha} crystallins protect same-species {gamma} crystallins from heat damage, just like mammalian {alpha} crystallins do. But cow {alpha} crystallins did not protect toothfish {gamma} crystallins from soaring temperatures. The team suggests that structural changes in the toothfish proteins prevent cow {alpha} and toothfish {gamma} crystallins from interacting successfully. These structural changes likely reflect the evolutionary changes that enabled the Antarctic toothfish eye lens to adapt to extreme cold. So the Antarctic toothfish has its unique {gamma} crystallins to thank for perfect vision in its frigid home.

References

Kiss, A. J., Mirarefi, A. Y., Ramakrishnan, S., Zukoski, C. F., DeVries, A. L. and Cheng, C.-H. C. (2004). Cold stable eye lens crystallins of the Antarctic nototheniid toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni Norman. J. Exp. Biol. 207,4633 -4649.[Abstract/Free Full Text]


Related articles in JEB:

Cold-stable eye lens crystallins of the Antarctic nototheniid toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni Norman
Andor J. Kiss, Amir Y. Mirarefi, Subramanian Ramakrishnan, Charles F. Zukoski, Arthur L. DeVries, and Chi-Hing C. Cheng
JEB 2004 207: 4633-4649. [Abstract] [Full Text]  




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