State of differentiation of bovine epithelial lens cells in vitro. Relationship between the variation of the cell shape and the synthesis of crystallins.

Correlations between cell morphology and the expression of specific proteins (crystallins) have been investigated. Two different culture conditions have been chosen which keep bovine epithelial lens cells (BEL cells) in a monolayer of homogeneous epithelioid cells: (1) bovine retinal extract (EDGF) supplemented medium; (2) extracellular matrix (ECM) provided by corneal endothelial cells in standard medium has been compared to previous results obtained with BEL cells cultivated on plastic (Simonneau et al., 1983). Variations of the cell shape had no effect upon crystallin synthesis.