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First published online May 6, 2009

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Focusing in on lens syncytia

Within the lens of the vertebrate eye, macromolecules can move from cell to cell through a poorly characterised process known as the large molecule diffusion pathway (LMDP). To explain this movement, it has been proposed that the lens contains syncytia (the product of multiple cell-cell fusion events) – but how are these syncytia structured, and what might be their role in light focusing in the eye? To address these questions in living, intact lenses, Steven Bassnett and colleagues (p. 1607) express GFP in lens epithelial cells in young mice, and track its movement between cells. The authors show that macromolecules preferentially traffic between lens cells that lie within a single stratum of the lens cortex (and are, therefore, of a similar age). They next examine the role of the lens plasma-membrane protein Lim2, which has been proposed to mediate intercellular communication in the lens. They show that, in mice lacking Lim2, the LMDP is not established and syncytia do not form. Moreover, regions of partial cellular fusion are common in wild-type lenses, but are rare or absent in Lim2-deficient mice. The authors conclude that the lens contains several overlapping Lim2-dependent syncytia that form a unique `stratified syncytium', and propose several ways in which intercellular protein diffusion within the strata might promote light focussing by the lens.

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Related articles in JCS:

The stratified syncytium of the vertebrate lens

Yanrong Shi, Kelly Barton, Alicia De Maria, J. Mark Petrash, Alan Shiels, and Steven Bassnett
JCS 2009 122: 1607-1615. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?