Purity ≥ 90% as determined by SDS-PAGE analysis. Purified by affinity chromatography. Alpha-crystallins, composed of alphaA (~19kD) and alphaB (~19.2kD) subunits, are major water-soluble proteins accounting for almost 50% of total protein in the mammalian transparent eye lens and they are also found in a variety of other tissues (1). The two other crystallin families, beta and gama, are homologous to each other but not to the alpha family or the sHspis. Alpha-crystallins are also referred to as small heat shock proteins, since they are induced by increased temperature in a variety of organisms (2). The alpha-crystallins have sequence homology as well as structural and functional similarities with the small Hspis such as Hsp25/27 (3). Most alpha-crystallins have four common structural and functional features: (i) molecular weight between 12 and 43kD; (ii) the formation of large oligomeric complexes composed of alphaA-crystallin, alphaB-crystallin and Hsp25/27; (iii) the moderately conse