Analysis of microdissected cataractous human lenses.

The potential of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as a technique for studying human cataractogenesis by analyzing minute quantities of lens proteins was demonstrated in a human retinitis pigmentosa (RP) lens. Individual human cortical cataractous lenses were microdissected. A well-defined opaque section was identified, the lens capsule was cut, and the section was removed. A nearby clear lens section was dissected out to serve as a control. Soluble crystallins from the cataractous and adjacent normal sections were subjected separately to gel filtration on a HPLC system. In the RP lens, the protein profiles obtained from an opaque polar-posterior subcapsular section and from nearby clear sections of the same lens were significantly different. The protein profile of an opaque area near the equator of the same RP lens was similar to nearby clear sections. These results show that different opaque zones in a single lens may have unique biochemical and biophysical properties.