Figure 8. Chaperone activity of gamma irradiated αA-crystallin wild-type and N-terminal mutants. The chaperone activities of non-gamma irradiation (NGI) and gamma irradiation (GI) αA-crystallin wild-type (wt) and N-terminal mutant crystallins were measured by the ability to suppress ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-induced aggregation of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) at a ratio of 1:5. The chaperone activity of αA-crystallin wt and the N-terminal mutants, R12C, R21L, R49C, and R54C, were analyzed at (A) 0 kGy, (B) 0.5 kGy, (C) 1.0 kGy, and (D) 2.0 kGy dosages of GI. At 0 kGy, all mutants exhibited decreased chaperone activity compared to αA-crystallin wt. However, a gradual gain of chaperone activity was observed in all mutants on exposure to an increased dosage of GI compared to the NGI mutant counterparts. Each bar represents the mean±standard deviation (SD) of three individual experiments. *p<0.05, ***p<0.001 (compared to lane 1 in each case).