Severe bilateral cataract was found in a 7 year-old naïve female cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) 3 months before necropsy. During macroscopic examination, severe opacity and thinning of the lens were observed in both eyes. Histopathology revealed that the lens nuclei and majority of cortex lens fibers had disappeared and become excavated, while the lens fibers in the subcapsular area we...

REST (RE1-silencing transcription factor, also called Nrsf) is involved in the maintenance of the undifferentiated state of neuronal stem/progenitor cells in vitro by preventing precocious expression of neuronal genes. REST expression was then decreased in developing neurons to down-regulate neuronal genes which allow their maturation. However, the function of REST during neurogenesis in vivo r...

PURPOSE Previously, using lens epithelial explants from neonatal rats, we showed that both insulin and IGF-1 synergistically enhance the effectiveness of FGF as an inducer of fiber differentiation. The authors aimed to determine whether IGF-1 enhances FGF-induced fiber differentiation in lens epithelial cells at various ages and, in particular, whether it can counter a marked age-related declin...

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of inhibitors of chloride channels on lens volume and tissue architecture under isotonic conditions. METHODS Rat lenses were maintained in organ culture under isotonic conditions in the presence of various putative chloride channel inhibitors. The effect of an inhibitor on lens wet mass and tissue morphology was determined by weighing and histologic examinat...

The major intrinsic protein (MIP) of lens fiber cells is a member of the aquaporin (AQP) water channel family. The protein is expressed at very high levels in lens fiber cells, but its physiological function is unclear. By homology to known AQPs, we have cloned a full-length cDNA encoding an MIP from the lens of killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus). The predicted protein (263 amino acids; GenBank ...

The cis-elements responsible for the high-level, lens-specific expression of the chicken beta B1-crystallin gene were investigated by generating mice harboring beta B1-crystallin promoter/chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) transgenes. Deletion of promoter sequences -434/-153 and -152/-127 as well as site-directed mutagenesis of the PL1 (-116/-102) and Pl2 (-90/-76) elements significantly ...

PURPOSE The goal of this ultrastructural study was to examine fiber cell shape and intercellular junctions during the early stages of fiber cell breakdown and edema in diabetic rabbit lenses. METHODS Lens abnormalities were recorded with a slit lamp. Between 6-10 mo after drug treatment, diabetic lenses and untreated control lenses were freshly enucleated and sectioned with a vibrating knife ...

Wnt signaling is implicated in many developmental processes, including cell fate changes. Several members of the Wnt family, as well as other molecules involved in Wnt signaling, including Frizzled receptors, LDL-related protein co-receptors, members of the Dishevelled and Dickkopf families, are known to be expressed in the lens during embryonic or postembryonic development. However, the functi...

PURPOSE To investigate the role of calcium-activated proteases in calcium-dependent disintegrative globulization of isolated rat lens cortex fiber cells. METHODS Rat lens fiber cells were isolated and plated on coverslips at the bottom of a temperature-controlled chamber. The fiber cells were incubated with 10 microM protease substrate, (t-butoxycarbonyl-leu-met-7-amino-4-chloromethylcoumarin...

The use of microscope laser light-scattering spectroscopy allows for the measurement of dynamic properties of intracellular particles inside single fiber cells at different locations in the intact chicken embryo lens. Profiles of the diffusive properties of the delta-crystallin proteins across the lens are reported for developing chickens from day 5 to day 37. A clear decrease of the diffusion ...