Abstract
Purpose :
Lens from rabbits, monkeys and humans remain the capacity of fiber regeneration after surgery removal of lens fibers. The objective of this work was to characterize the lens fiber regeneration process.
Methods :
Lens fibers of 2 month old rabbits were removed by phacoemulsification with different sizes of capsule opening and different degree of epithelium remaining.The lens fiber regeneration was monitored by morphological and biochemical and examinations.
Results :
Small capsule opening during surgery removal of lens fibers by phacoemulsification resulted in a faster and better ordered regeneration of lens fibers as compared to large capsule opening. Damage of lens epithelium during surgery resulted in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and disordered lens regeneration. As indicated by BrdU incorporation, removal of lens fibers resulted in rapid lens epithelium proliferation. Lens epithelial cells rapidly migrated toward to posterior capsule. By the 7th day after removal of lens fibers, epithelial cells covered the entire capsule. The fiber differentiation began from equatorial region as soon as 3 days after cataract surgery, whereas the epithelial cells that migrated to the central posterior capsule differentiated later. Thus, the regenerated lenses at early stages (up to 1 month after surgery) were donut-shaped. The regeneration process was almost completed by 2 month after surgery. Intravitreous supplementation of FGF-2 promotes the regeneration process. The arrangements of regenerated lens fibers were similar to that of normal lens. Protein expression profiles of the regenerated lenses were also similar to that of normal lenses. However, fiber nuclei retained in the center of the regenerated lenses and the regenerated lenses were semi-transparency.
Conclusions :
This work demonstrates the lens fiber regeneration process recapitulated the embryonic lens development process and lens regeneration in rabbit is an ideal model to investigate lens fiber differentiation regulation.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.