Crystallins are the dominant structural components of the vertebrate eye lens. Homo/heterodimer, or complexes of higher-order. The structure of beta-crystallin oligomers seems to be stabilized through interactions between the N-terminal arms. Has a two-domain beta-structure, folded into four very similar Greek key motifs. Specific cleavages in the N-terminal arm occur during lens maturation and give rise to truncated forms, leading to impaired oligomerization and protein insolubilization. The disease is caused by variants affecting the gene represented in this entry. CRYBB1 mutations may be a cause of congenital cataract and microcornea syndrome, a disease characterized by the association of congenital cataract and microcornea without any other systemic anomaly or dysmorphism. Clinical findings include a corneal diameter inferior to 10 mm in both meridians in an otherwise normal eye, and an inherited cataract, which is most often bilateral posterior polar with opacification in the lens periphery. The cataract progresses to form a total cataract after visual maturity has been achieved, requiring cataract extraction in the first to third decade of life (PubMed:16110300 and PubMed:21972112). Belongs to the beta/gamma-crystallin family. Leiden Open Variation Database (LOVD)