PURPOSE Fiber cells of the ocular lens are bounded by a highly specialized plasma membrane. Despite the pivotal role that membrane proteins play in the physiology and pathophysiology of the lens, our knowledge of the structure and composition of the fiber cell plasma membrane remains fragmentary. In the current study, we utilized mass spectrometry-based shotgun proteomics to provide a comprehen...

Oily wastewaters from oil refineries and oil distribution centers are one of the most important environmental concerns in recent decades; therefore, it is critical to treat these types of wastewaters. In this study, the performance of different polyethersulfone hollow fiber membranes in oily wastewaters treatment was investigated and the effects of operating conditions such as transmembrane pre...

The purified major intrinsic protein of the lens fiber plasma membrane (MP26) reconstituted into liposomes favored membrane-to-membrane close contacts as visualized by freeze fracture and immunoelectron microscopy. Reconstituted apposed unilamellar vesicles formed pentalaminar profiles, and multilamellar liposomes showed regions of stacked bilayers. Immunogold labeling, using antibody directed ...

In this work, ceramic hollow fiber supported polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite membranes were developed by dip-coating PDMS layer on the surface of macroporous ceramic hollow fiber support. By controlling the properties of polymer solution and ceramic hollow fiber, high-quality ceramic hollow fiber supported PDMS composite membranes were fabricated for pervaporation (PV) recovery of biobuta...

PURPOSE To investigate whether lens fiber cells isolated and maintained under calcium-free conditions exhibit distinct membrane currents. METHODS Fiber cells were isolated from the cortical portion of neonate rat lenses using a trypsin digestion protocol and were maintained in EDTA-buffered Ringer's solutions. Membrane currents were recorded from fiber bundles using the whole-cell patch-clamp...

The main intrinsic polypeptide (MIP) of ocular lens fiber cells, a putative gap junctional polypeptide, has been shown to undergo a physiologic proteolytic reduction in relative molecular weight with age. Electron microscopic studies of isolated lens fiber cell membranes have revealed the existence of two distinct classes of gap junction-like membrane-membrane interactions, which differ from ea...

We study the dynamics of a growing semiflexible fiber approaching a membrane at an angle. At late times we find three regimes: fiber stalling, when growth stops, runaway, in which the fiber bends away from the membrane, and another regime in which spicules form. We discuss which regions of the resulting "phase diagram" are explored by (i) single and bundled actin fibers in living cells, (ii) si...

Periaxin (Prx), a PDZ domain protein expressed preferentially in myelinating Schwann cells and lens fibers, plays a key role in membrane scaffolding and cytoarchitecture. Little is known, however, about how Prx is anchored to the plasma membrane. Here we report that ankyrin-B (AnkB), a well-characterized adaptor protein involved in linking the spectrin-actin cytoskeleton to integral membrane pr...

We aimed to investigate the relationship between membrane material and the development of membrane fouling in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) using membranes with different pore sizes and hydrophilicities. Batch filtration tests were performed using submerged single hollow fiber membrane ultrafiltration (UF) modules with different polymeric membrane materials including cellulose acetate (CA), polye...

PURPOSE During their differentiation, lens fiber cells elongate, detach from the lens capsule, associate at the sutures, and degrade all cytoplasmic membrane-bound organelles. Changes in the expression or organization of cell adhesion and cytoskeleton-associated proteins were correlated with these events during fiber cell differentiation in chicken embryos. METHODS Fixed or living lenses were...