Abstract
THE lens of vertebrate eye is very useful for the study of a number of fundamental biochemical processes at the molecular level. In this avascular tissue a continuous process of cellular differentiation takes place starting in the outer epithelial monolayer and ending in the lens centre, which consists of closely packed fibre cells. Strictly speaking, no cell death occurs in the lens, although differentiation from epithelium to fibre is accompanied by a gradual loss of cell organelles such as mitochondria, nuclei and ribosomes. Also, a very slow but defined breakdown of proteins starting from the C terminus1,2, and deamidation of crystallins during ageing have been reported3.
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BLOEMENDAL, H., ZWEERS, A. & WALTERS, H. Self-assembly of lens crystallins in vitro. Nature 255, 426–427 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/255426a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/255426a0
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