Human I3D-crystallin aggregation induced by ultraviolet C irradiation is suppressed by resveratrol

• Published in: Biochemical engineering journal Vol. 78; pp. 189 - 197
• Main Authors: Wu, Josephine, Kao, Chen-Yuan, Lin, Lilian, Wen, Wen-Sing, Lai, Jinn-Tsyy, Wang, Steven
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.2013
• ISSN: 1369-703X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bej.2013.03.014

Human I3D-crystallin, a 173-residue protein, is a major protein component of the human eye lens and associated with the development of juvenile and mature-onset cataracts. The study reported here is aimed at examining the effects of resveratrol on human I3D-crystallin aggregation and/or precipitation triggered by ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light. Our turbidity, electron microscopy (TEM), and SDSaPAGE results showed that, under UV-C irradiation, resveratrol was able to suppress the formation of human I3D-crystallin aggregates and the observed aggregation inhibition was dependent upon the concentration of resveratrol added. Through the use of Ellman reagent, the concentration of sulfhydryl group was observed to decrease upon prolonged UV-C irradiation. Also, there existed a positive correlation between the content of sulfhydryl group in human I3D-crystallin and the concentration of resveratrol. Furthermore, we propose that resveratrol's free radical scavenging ability is likely to be correlated with its mechanism of action in inhibiting human I3D-crystallin aggregation induced by UV-C irradiation. We believe this work may aid in the development of potential therapeutics for cataract.