Physiology Of Hte Lens And Agigng Changes Of The Lens Flashcards
Anterior sutures
Upright Y
Posterior lens sutures
Upside down Y
Y sutures with age
More branches
Look like stars kinda
How much power does the lens provide
15D (1/3 of the total power)
What protects the retina from UV light
Lens
Lens composition
Water
Proteins
Others
Total lens proteins
Water soluble proteins (90%)
-crystallins, a, b, y
Alpha crystalline
Contributes to lens transparency and gives the lens a significantly higher RI than surrounding fluids
- offers resistance to the degradation of the other crystalline, beta nad gamma, and is called the molecular chaperone
- crystalline concentration varies among the lens, providing a refractive index gradient that is higher in the nucleus, than the outer cortical surface
- SA in the lens is reduced due to the gradient index system and peripheral flattening
Transparency on a cellular level of the lens
Small lens fibers Uniformity of the lens fibers Regularity of packing Lack of organelles Avascular
Transparency at a molecular level of lens
Proteins are uniform
Proteins are small
Proteins concentration increases towards nucleus, creates RI gradient that is higher in nucleus, than the outer cortical space
Transparency: water in the lens
Water is pumped out of the lens from the anterior surface by Na/K pump
- water enters the lens from the back because of osmotic pressure
- we do not want water getting into the lens
Mitosis activity of the lens
- mitosis of secondary fiber cells occurs in the germinative zone of the anterior lens epithelium
- after mitosis, lens fiber cells gradually migrate through the transition zone and into the equator where elongation occurs
Protectors against oxidative damage in the lens
Glutathione
Ascorbic acid
Glutathione in the lens
-primary protector against oxidative damage in the lens
-transported in to the lens from the aqueous and can be synthesized from lens epithelial cells and superficial fiber cells
0detoxifies hydrogen peroxide
Ascorbic acid in the lens vs aqueous
Much higher in the lens