Association of alpha-crystallin with actin in cultured lens cells.

The nature of the beaded filaments in the lens fiber cell has been debated for some time. One explanation is that beaded filaments represent an association of alpha-crystallin with actin filaments. By using a double labelling technique that allowed us to view actin filaments and alpha-crystallin in the same cell we have demonstrated that some of the alpha-crystallin in lens cells is indeed associated with actin.