Correlation of Scheimpflug photography of the anterior eye segment with biochemical analysis of the lens. Application of a frozen-sectioning technique to investigate differences in protein distribution of single lens layers.

Normal and cataractous lenses were separated mechanically into lens equator and inner cylinder and the latter then sectioned in a freezing microtome. Fractions with 120-140 sections each were collected representing single lens layers, and the content of water-soluble and insoluble proteins was determined. Protein profiles for each lens layer were obtained by means of isoelectric focusing in special agarose gels. Using this microsectioning technique, it was possible to demonstrate differences in the protein distribution in single layers of both normal and cataractous human lenses. Comparison of the protein profiles of the normal lens and the lenses of different cataract morphology used in this study demonstrates the potential usefulness of this methodology for future research with cataract lenses.