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Optical plasticity in the crystalline lenses of the cichlid fish Aequidens pulcher.

Schartau, Marcus LU ; Sjögreen, Bodil LU ; Gagnon, Yakir LU and Kröger, Ronald LU (2009) In Current Biology 19(2). p.122-126
Abstract
One of the reasons that the crystalline lenses of vertebrate eyes are highly transparent is that most of the cells have broken down all of their organelles, including the nuclei. These cells can neither synthesize new proteins nor generate energy by electron transport in the mitochondria. Only in the peripheral layers--in the cichlid fish Aequidens pulcher, beyond 92% of the lens radius--are there cells with full complements of organelles. We report here that the optical properties of the lens change between the light-adapted and dark-adapted states in A. pulcher. Changes occur even in cell layers free of organelles, and they occur in parallel with changes in retinal function between the light-adapted (all-cone, color vision) and... (More)
One of the reasons that the crystalline lenses of vertebrate eyes are highly transparent is that most of the cells have broken down all of their organelles, including the nuclei. These cells can neither synthesize new proteins nor generate energy by electron transport in the mitochondria. Only in the peripheral layers--in the cichlid fish Aequidens pulcher, beyond 92% of the lens radius--are there cells with full complements of organelles. We report here that the optical properties of the lens change between the light-adapted and dark-adapted states in A. pulcher. Changes occur even in cell layers free of organelles, and they occur in parallel with changes in retinal function between the light-adapted (all-cone, color vision) and dark-adapted (all-rod, grayscale vision) states. Depleting the eye of dopamine also caused changes in the optical properties similar to those of dark adaptation. Our results indicate that the refractive index of the organelle-free lens fiber cells can be adjusted quickly and accurately. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Current Biology
volume
19
issue
2
pages
122 - 126
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000263012600022
  • scopus:58349116427
  • pmid:19147355
ISSN
1879-0445
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2008.11.062
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7dea432e-f62c-4971-9b14-1a619b90ca12 (old id 1289656)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:35:43
date last changed
2022-03-13 20:00:14
@article{7dea432e-f62c-4971-9b14-1a619b90ca12,
  abstract     = {{One of the reasons that the crystalline lenses of vertebrate eyes are highly transparent is that most of the cells have broken down all of their organelles, including the nuclei. These cells can neither synthesize new proteins nor generate energy by electron transport in the mitochondria. Only in the peripheral layers--in the cichlid fish Aequidens pulcher, beyond 92% of the lens radius--are there cells with full complements of organelles. We report here that the optical properties of the lens change between the light-adapted and dark-adapted states in A. pulcher. Changes occur even in cell layers free of organelles, and they occur in parallel with changes in retinal function between the light-adapted (all-cone, color vision) and dark-adapted (all-rod, grayscale vision) states. Depleting the eye of dopamine also caused changes in the optical properties similar to those of dark adaptation. Our results indicate that the refractive index of the organelle-free lens fiber cells can be adjusted quickly and accurately.}},
  author       = {{Schartau, Marcus and Sjögreen, Bodil and Gagnon, Yakir and Kröger, Ronald}},
  issn         = {{1879-0445}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{122--126}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current Biology}},
  title        = {{Optical plasticity in the crystalline lenses of the cichlid fish Aequidens pulcher.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.11.062}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cub.2008.11.062}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}