Crystallin Lambda 1 (CRYl1)

The enzyme requires NAD(H) as a coenzyme, and is inhibited by inorganic phosphate. A similar gene in the rabbit is thought to serve a structural role in the lens of the eye. Human CRYL1 encodes an enzyme-crystallin with a predicted length of 319 amino acids. The protein shares 83%, 84%, 85%, 78%, and 75% sequence identity with rabbit, mouse, rat, cow, and pig lambda-crystallins. It contains 2 domains characteristic of HCDH proteins: one in the C terminus and another, an NAD-binding domain, in the N terminus. Northern blot analysis of human tissues detected ubiquitous expression of a 1.5-kb CRYL1 transcript, at highest levels in liver and kidney. Northern blot analysis and semiquantitative RT-PCR on 60 hepatocellular carcinoma samples showed that CRYL1 was downregulated in 58% of the samples.