Paper Spotlight: Common Age-related Changes in Eye Lens Function

Posted by

Aging (Aging-US)

Aging (Aging-US) published this trending research paper in Volume 11, Issue 24, entitled, "Age-related changes in eye lens biomechanics, morphology, refractive index and transparency" by researchers from the School of Optometry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE; Department of Neurobiology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom; Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (Spring-8), Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo, Japan; Department of Radiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. Abstract: Life-long eye lens function requires an appropriate gradient refractive index, biomechanical integrity and transparency. We conducted an extensive study of wild-type mouse lenses 1-30 months of age to define common age-related changes. Biomechanical testing and morphometrics revealed an increase in lens volume and stiffness with age. Lens capsule thickness and peripheral fiber cell widths increased between 2 to 4 months of age but not further, and thus, cannot account for significant age-dependent increases in lens stiffness after 4 months. In lenses from mice older than 12 months, we routinely observed cataracts due to changes in cell structure, with anterior cataracts due to incomplete suture closure and a cortical ring cataract corresponding to a zone of compaction in cortical lens fiber cells. Refractive index measurements showed a rapid growth in peak refractive index between 1 to 6 months of age, and the area of highest refractive index is correlated with increases in lens nucleus size with age. These data provide a comprehensive overview of age-related changes in murine lenses, including lens size, stiffness, nuclear fraction, refractive index, transparency, capsule thickness and cell structure. Our results suggest similarities between murine and primate lenses and provide a baseline for future lens aging studies. Special collection on eye disease - https://www.aging-us.com/special-collections-archive/eye-disease Press release - https://www.aging-us.com/news_room/age-related-changes-in-eye-lens-biomechanics Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.102584 DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.102584 Full text - https://www.aging-us.com/article/102584/text Correspondence to: Velia M. Fowler email: vfowler@udel.edu and Catherine Cheng email: ckcheng@iu.edu Keywords: fiber cell, strain, epithelial cell, cataract, stiffness About Aging-US Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging-US go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. Please visit our website at http://www.Aging-US.com​​ or connect with us on: SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/Aging-Us Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/agingus​ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ Aging-US is published by Impact Journals, LLC please visit http://www.ImpactJournals.com​​ or connect with @ImpactJrnls Media Contact 18009220957 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM