Characterization of peptide inducing cataractogenesis in lens of hereditary cataractous rat (ICR/f RAT).

A material with inhibitory action to Na+/K+ ATPase was found in the lens of the ICR/f rat, a recessive hereditary cataractous rat. The material also induced lens opacification in vitro. From the results of amino acid analysis and by secondary ion mass spectroscopy, it was suggested that the material might contain approximately equimolar amounts of four amino acids, ie, aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid and glycine, and that the molecular weight was 444. These facts suggested that this material with Na+/K+ ATPase inhibitory action might be a peptide. However, there is not yet any corroborating evidence to show whether this peptide is only a single material or not. The peptide significantly increased with aging in the lens of the ICR/f rat until approximately 90 days, when cataract became manifest, but its content decreased thereafter. This study suggests that one of the causes of cataractogenesis in the ICR/f rat might be this peptide, which is transformed in the lens with aging, and also that the peptide might accelerate lens opacification after cataractogenesis.