Résumé
βIGH3 protein has been recently involved in the pathogenesis of blinding corneal diseases, some of which have characteristic amyloid corneal deposits. The 124 codon of the βig-h3 gene seems to be crucial for the amyloidogenicity of the protein product. We presently report an in vitro system that reproducibly forms amyloid fibrils from βIGH3(110–131) derived peptides. We also assessed the differences in fibril formation of two 22-amino acid peptides centered on the 124 residue: the native form and the Arg124Cys peptide (mutation linked to lattice corneal amyloid dystrophy type 1). After dialysis of Arg124Cys peptide against PBS 1/15 M pH 7.4 for 72 hours, Congo red staining and electron microscopy demonstrated the presence of abundant material fulfilling the criteria of amyloid. Quantitative analysis with thioflavine T fluorescence studies confirmed the high capacity of Arg124Cys peptide to form amyloid fibrils when compared to the native form.