Differentiation-dependent changes in the membrane properties of fiber cells isolated from the rat lens

Webb, Kevin F.; Donaldson, Paul J.

Abstract

Impedance measurements in whole lenses showed that lens fiber cells possess different permeability properties to the epithelial cells from which they differentiate. To confirm these observations at the cellular level, we analyzed the membrane properties of fiber cells isolated in the presence of the nonselective cation channel inhibitor Gd3+. Isolated fiber cells were viable in physiological [Ca2+] and exhibited a range of lengths that reflected their stage of differentiation. Analysis of a large population of fiber cells revealed a subgroup of cells whose conductivity matched values measured in the whole lens (1). In this group of cells, membrane resistance, conductivity, and reversal potential all varied with cell length, suggesting that the process of differentiation is associated with a change in the membrane properties of fiber cells. Using pharmacology and ion substitution experiments, we showed that newly differentiated fiber cells (

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 20, 2008
• Online Publication Date: May 1, 2008
• Publication Date: May 1, 2008
• Deposit Date: Apr 20, 2024
• Journal: American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology
• Print ISSN: 0363-6143
• Electronic ISSN: 1522-1563
• Publisher: American Physiological Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 294
• Issue: 5
• Pages: C1133-C1145
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00315.2007
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4831778