μ-Crystallin is a mammalian homologue of Agrobacterium ornithine cyclodeaminase and is expressed in human retina

Abstract

μ-Crystallin is the major component of the eye lens in several Australian marsupials. The complete sequence of kangaroo μ-crystallin has now been obtained by cDNA cloning. The predicted amino acid sequence shows similarity with ornithine cyclodeaminases encoded by the tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmids of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Until now, neither ornithine cyclodeaminase nor any structurally related enzymes have been observed in eukaryotes. RNA analysis of kangaroo tissues shows that μ-crystallin is expressed at high abundance in lens, but outside the lens μ-crystallin is preferentially expressed in neural tissues, retina, and brain. An almost full-length cDNA for μ-crystallin was cloned from ..