Journal
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 366, Issue 1568, Pages 1250-1264Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0302
Keywords
eye lens; transparency; cataract; electron microscopy; confocal microscopy
Categories
Funding
- NEI [R01EY018 185, EY09 852]
- Core Grants for Vision Research [P30EY02 687]
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The purpose of the lens is to project a sharply focused, undistorted image of the visual surround onto the neural retina. The first pre-requisite, therefore, is that the tissue should be transparent. Despite the presence of remarkably high levels of protein, the lens cytosol remains transparent as a result of short-range-order interactions between the proteins. At a cellular level, the programmed elimination of nuclei and other light-scattering organelles from cells located within the pupillary space contributes directly to tissue transparency. Scattering at the cell borders is minimized by the close apposition of lens fibre cells facilitated by a plethora of adhesive proteins, some expressed only in the lens. Similarly, refractive index matching between lens membranes and cytosol is believed to minimize scatter. Refractive index matching between the cytoplasm of adjacent cells is achieved through the formation of cellular fusions that allow the intermingling of proteins. Together, these structural adaptations serve to minimize light scatter and enable this living, cellular structure to function as 'biological glass'.
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