The agar diffusion technique of Ouchterlony was used to determine the time sequence in which the three main lens proteins arise during organogenesis and to examine the distribution of these proteins in the lenses of animals throughout the vertebrate series and in those tissues of the eye which possess the capacity to form a new lens upon removal of the original lens. Alpha crystallin is detecte...

PURPOSE To establish a model of lens regeneration in rats and to detect the expression of transcription factor and crystallin genes. METHODS An extracapsular lens extraction (ECLE) was performed in Sprague-Dawley rats. Examinations with slit-lamp and histological analysis were performed at various time points after ECLE. Real-time PCR and/or immunofluorescence were performed to detect the exp...

recently, the use of stem cells has expanded into numerous areas including cell therapy. in this study, we investigated the differentiation capacity of human wharton’s jelly stem cells (hwjscs) into lens fiber cells. morphological changes and expressions of four crystallin genes (αa, αb, βb1 and βb3) were studied. the bovine vitreous body has been shown to induce expression of crystallin genes ...

PURPOSE To produce two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) maps for ovine crystallins and examine changes in ovine crystallins during cataract formation. METHODS Soluble and insoluble fractions were isolated from normal, whole lenses of 26-week-old sheep, the proteins separated by 2-DE, and the spots digested with trypsin and subjected to tandem mass spectral analysis. Spot identifications wer...

PURPOSE To report the identification of a novel nonsense mutation in CRYGC in a Chinese family with autosomal dominant congenital nuclear cataracts and microcornea. METHODS We investigated a four-generation Chinese family with six members affected with nuclear cataracts and microcornea. The family resides in a relatively isolated region of northern China. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood l...

Ribosomes have been shown to mediate refolding of proteins in vitro. In order to understand the mechanism of action, we have explored the 70S ribosome surface for hydrophobicity, one of the important aspects in chaperone-target protein interaction. We find that the 70S ribosome displays significant hydrophobicity on its surface when probed with the hydrophobic fluorophore 8-anilino-1-naphthalen...

PURPOSE A successful method to subculture human lens epithelial (HLE) cells that retain their intrinsic characteristics is of great importance. This study examines the effects of four different growth factors on proliferation and differentiation in HLE cells in early subcultures. METHODS Specimens of HLE cells were obtained from infants. First- or second-passage cells were cultured in the pre...