Quantitation of high molecular weight protein aggregates in opaque and transparent parts from the same human cataractous lens.

Water soluble proteins from clear and opaque parts of the cortex of the same human cataractous lens were analyzed by high pressure liquid chromatography using a TSK 3000 SW gel filtration column. Studies of the 42 different microdissected parts from 7 different lenses demonstrated that the opaque parts possessed a higher percentage of high molecular weight material eluting with the void volume than did the corresponding clear part from the same lens. These results suggest that increased amounts of high molecular weight protein aggregates accompany the process of opacification in the cortex of the human cataractous lens.