Role of neural retina and vitreous body during lens regeneration: transplantation and autoradiography.

The trophic influence of neural retina in regeneration of the lens from dorsal iris is well known. The first part of this study involved transplantation of dorsal iris pieces into various intra-ocular positions in order to determine the field of action of the neural retina. The most favorable location for lens regeneration was the pupillary space, closely followed by the vitreous chamber. Lens regeneration was retarded from implants lying in the anterior chamber; this was most evident when grafts were placed in front of the iris and not in contact with the swollen vitreous body. Incorporation of 3H-leucine in the neural retina and vitreous body was also investigated using autoradiography. No significant difference in labeling was seen between the control and lentectomized neural retina at all time intervals studied. However, increased labeling above that in the controls was observed over the vitreous body between 8 to 20 days after lentectomy. There was also an increase in the number of silver grains over the vitreous body with increasing time between injection of isotope and sacrifice of the animal. These results provide evidence that vitreous body plays an important role in the process of lens regeneration, perhaps serving as a preferential pathway for transfer of the neural retinal factor to the dorsal iris.