EFFECT OF CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE RECRUITED CRYSTALLINS ON LENS METABOLISM

The impact on duck lens metabolism of recruited epsilon-crystallin/LDH -B4 and tau-crystallin/enolase was investigated by NMR spectroscopy. A comparison of the duck lens metabolite profile with that of the calf in which recruited crystallins are absent revealed significant increas es in ATP, alpha-glycerophosphate (alpha-GP) and pyridine dinucleotide concentrations. The alterations in the concentrations of ATP and alph a-GP appear to be related to both the high concentration of NAD and th e elevated reduced to oxidized NADH/NAD(+) ratio.