Crystallin Gamma N (CRYgN)

The beta and gamma crystallins are evolutionarily related families of proteins that make up a large part of the refractive structure of the eye lens. The gamma-N crystallins have a hybrid gene structure, half beta and half gamma.By searching genome databases for sequences similar to rodent Crygn, Wistow et al. (2005) identified the human CRYGN gene, but it appeared to have undergone major evolutionary changes. PCR and EST database analysis revealed possible CRYGN transcripts in human retinal pigment epithelium, hippocampus, and testis, but they were unlike the transcripts expressed in rodents and did not appear to be translated. By genomic sequence analysis, Wistow et al. (2005) mapped the CRYGN gene to chromosome 7q36.1.