The Immunoproteasome in Human Lens Epithelial Cells During Oxidative Stress

The immunoproteasome is known to generate peptides for antigen presentation. However, it has also been proposed to have additional functions such as stress response. The propensity of the immunoproteasome for degradation of oxidatively damaged proteins and peptides makes it interesting in the context of cataract formation and prevention. This study hypothesized that the immunoproteasome is present in human cataractous lenses and that oxidative stress will induce its expression, affect its proteolytic activity and its intracellular location in native cultured human lens epithelial cells (HLECs).