Figure 1

Lens structure and function. A: Schematic diagram of an axial view of the lens showing a model of solute penetration into the bovine lens. The anterior surface of the lens is covered by a single layer of epithelial cells which divide at the equator (EQ) to produce the elongating differentiating fiber cells. These cells eventually lose their nuclei and cellular organelles to become mature internalized fiber cells in the lens core. Fiber cells from adjacent hemispheres meet at the anterior (AP) and posterior (PP) poles to form the sutures. Arrows in the diagram represent the direction of ion and water fluxes. These fluxes have been directly measured outside the lens (red arrows) [2, 15, 16], but their position and direction inside the lens are to date purely theoretical (blue arrows) [1, 17]. B: An equatorial cross section of the lens showing a cellular view of ion and water movement in the lens. Water and solutes are proposed to flow into the lens via the extracellular space, cross fiber cell membranes, and flow outward via an intracellular pathway mediated by gap junction channels.