AGE-RELATED-CHANGES OF WATER-SOLUBLE PROTEINS OF HUMAN EYE LENS DURING THE PRENATAL PERIOD

Saline extracts from human lenses were studied during prenatal eye dev elopment. Using immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis with a speci fic antiserum against total extract of human adult lenses and monospec ific antisera against the individual crystallin classes, it was establ ished that alpha and beta crystallins were present in extracts from ey e lenses from 5-week-old embryos while gamma crystallins could be dete cted in extracts from embryonic lenses at the beginning of the 6th ges tational week. When analyzed by isoelectric focussing all alpha and be ta crystallin components were found in extracts from 8-week-old embryo s, while those of gamma crystallins were shown to appear successively within the period between the 8th and 14th gestational week. Some chan ges in the relative proportion of the different crystallin classes and subclasses were observed in the course of prenatal eye lens developme nt between the 8th and 26th gestational week, as the percentage of alp ha, high molecular weight and gamma crystallins was increased while th e proportion of beta crystallins was gradually lowered.