Proteins of the vitreous humor during experimentally induced myopia.

Significant myopia was evident within 14 days after a translucent goggle was placed over the eye of a newly hatched chick. This myopia was characterized by large negative refractive error, increased axial and equatorial eye lengths, and increased wet eye weight. The volume of the vitreous humor increased in the myopic eye, because of a signficant accumulation of liquid vitreous humor. The protein concentration of the vitreous humor of the myopic and nonmyopic eyes was greater at day 14 than at day 0 (ie, first day after hatching). Moreover, over this time, the protein concentration in the liquid component decreased, whereas the protein concentration in the gel component increased in both myopic and nonmyopic eyes. No difference was found in the protein concentrations between the myopic and nonmyopic eye at day 14. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed changes in band position and intensity of individual protein compoents between days 0 and 14. No major differences were found in the gel or the liquid vitreous humor between the myopic and the nonmyopic eyes. Comparison of vitreous humor proteins with proteins from the plasma showed that some but not all of the proteins in the vitreous had the same apparent molecular masses as proteins from these sources.