The hydrophobic probe 4,4′‐bis(1‐anilino‐8‐naphthalene sulfonic acid) is specifically photoincorporated into the N‐terminal domain of αB‐crystallin

Abstract
Photoincorporation of the fluorescent probe 4,4′-bis(1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonic acid) (bis-ANS) can be used to locate solvent-exposed hydrophobic regions in proteins. We show that bis-ANS is specifically incorporated into the putative N-terminal domain of αB-crystallin. This incorporation diminishes the chaperone-like activity of αB-crystallin, suggesting that hydrophobic surfaces in the N-terminal domain are involved in the binding of unfolding proteins.