Abstract
The main polypeptide isolated from lens fiber membrane has been solubilized in octyl glucoside and studied by gel filtration in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The combination of S 20,w value obtained from analytical ultracentrifugation and Stokes radius determined by HPLC of the soluble fraction indicates that more than 90% of the protein is monomeric. The solubilization of the protein seems to be dependent upon the presence of the NH 2 and COOH terminal sequences, since proteolytic degradation of MP26 which removes these terminal sequences is less soluble than the uncleaved polypeptide. Moreover, there is a higher amount of oligomer after proteolysis. Fatty acid analysis by gas chromatography shows that the insoluble membrane fraction from both cortical and nuclear fibers comprises a special class of long (C22) saturated fatty acids (behenic acid).
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