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Cataracts, clear lenses show gene expression differences, study finds
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Gene expression levels are different in eyes with cataracts and those with clear lenses, according to a study. In an analysis of gene expression profiles, 74 genes were increased and 241 were decreased more than fivefold in eyes with cataracts compared to clear lenses, the study authors found.
John Hawse and colleagues at Florida Atlantic University obtained central lens epithelial tags from patients undergoing cataract surgery; the cataracts were roughly 70% mixed, 20% nuclear, 5% cortical and 2% posterior subcapsular. Clear lenses were obtained from human organ donors.
Oligonucleotide microarray hybridization was used to analyze the full complement of gene expression differences between lens epithelia isolated from cataract and those from the clear lenses. The expression levels of a subset of the identified genes were further evaluated. Identified genes were functionally clustered into specific categories and the probability of over-representation of each category was determined by using a computer program.
Functional clustering of the identified genes showed that the transcripts that increased in eyes with cataract were associated with transcriptional control, chromosomal organization, ionic and cytoplasmic transport and extracellular matrix components. Transcripts that decreased in eyes with cataract were associated with protein synthesis, defense against oxidative stress, heat-shock/chaperone activity, structural components of the lens and cell cycle control.
The study is published in the October issue of Molecular Vision.