Cytoskeletal proteins of the ageing human lens.

The cytoskeletal proteins of the human lens were studied by sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, two-dimensional electrophoresis, and immunologically. Spectrin, vimentin and actin were identified in the superficial fibre cells of human lenses even to age 87 years. These proteins are lost from the deeper cortical and nuclear fibre cells, where a broad zone of water-insoluble proteins of Mr 36 000-45 000 emerges even in the transparent normal lens. Age-related changes in the water-soluble fraction include the increased prominence of W 56 and W 36 proteins in the cortex and of W 38 in the nucleus.