Acta Anatomica Sinica

AAS ›› 2013, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (3 ): 318-323.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0529-1356.2013.03.005

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Cell proliferation and synaptophysin expression in the developing mouse lens

LI Xue  CHEN Wen-jing  ZHOU Shu-fang  ZHAO Jing-ya  DENG Jin-bo*   

  1. Nursing College, Institute of Neurobiology, Henan University, He’nan Kaifeng 475004, China
  • Received:2012-08-10 Revised:2012-09-27 Online:2013-06-06 Published:2013-07-16

Abstract:

Objective To study cell proliferation and the expression of cell cycle protein (cyclin D1) and synaptophysin
(SYN) in mouse lens. Methods A total 150 mice were used in the study. HE staining and DAPI staining were performed out to
observe the general structure of the mouse lens. Proliferating cell nuclar antigen (PCNA) immunofluorescent staining and
5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) assay were used to mark the proliferative cells in lens. The expression of cyclin D1 protein and
synaptophysin in the lens were investigated with cyclin D1 and synaptophysin immunofluorescent staining. Results At about E8,
the lens were evolved from the lens placode with single columnar epithelium. Then, the hollow lens bulb developed further
and was filled with numerous fibroblasts, which gradually formed lens. BrdU and PCNA-positive cells were mainly distributed
in the epithelium of anterior capsule. However, P10 afterward, BrdU positive cells disappeared, while PCNA continued to express
in the anterior epithelial cells. Cyclin D1-positive cells were mainly distributed in the epithelium of anterior capsule and
the equator of the lens in the embryonic days and early postnatal days. After P5, cyclinD1-positive cells were mainly located
in the pre-equatorial area, and only few cyclin D1 positive cells were found in the equator. Synaptophysin protein expressed
in the matrix and some cell bodies of equator during the development.Conclusion The cell proliferation plays an important role
during the lens development and lens repair. Cell cycle proteins, cyclin D1 is probably involved in regulating the cells’disappear
in the equator, therefore the lens’s transparency can be kept. Synaptophysin’s expression in lens has important function in
lens’s transparency, through its regulation to calcium flow in cell bodies and matrix of lens.

Key words: Lens, Cell proliferation, Cell cycle protein, Synaptophysin protein, Immunofluorescence, Mouse