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ers to alcohol and orthophosphate. This gene is genetically polymorphic, and three common alleles segregating at the corresponding locus give rise to six phenotypes. Each allele appears to encode at least two electrophoretically different isozymes, Bf and Bs, which are produced in allele-specific ratios. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been identified for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2008]

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ey act as molecular chaperones although they do not renature proteins and release them in the fashion of a true chaperone; instead they hold them in large soluble aggregates. These heterogeneous aggregates consist of 30-40 subunits; the alpha-A and alpha-B subunits have a 3:1 ratio, respectively. Two additional functions of alpha crystallins are an autokinase activity and participation in the intracellular architecture. The encoded protein has been identified as a moonlighting protein based on its ability to perform mechanistically distinct functions. Alpha-A and alpha-B gene products are differentially expressed; alpha-A is preferentially restricted to the lens and alpha-B is expressed widely in many tissues and organs. Elevated expression of alpha-B crystallin occurs in many neurological diseases; a missense mutation cosegregated in a family with a desmin-related myopathy. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Jan 2019]