Distribution of MP17 in isolated lens fibre membranes.

MP17 is the second most abundant integral membrane protein in the mammalian lens. It has some common features with the major intrinsic polypeptide MIP26, but amino terminal sequencing shows that MP17 is a separate gene product. Both MP17 and MIP26 are abundant in isolated lens fibre membrane vesicles and are not detectable in the fibre gap junctions.