Sequential Application of Glass Coverslips to Assess the Compressive Stiffness of the Mouse Lens: Strain and Morphometric Analyses
Sequential Application of Glass Coverslips to Assess the Compressive Stiffness of the Mouse Lens: Strain and Morphometric Analyses
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DOI：
10.3791/53986
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发表时间：
2016-05-01
影响因子：
1.2
通讯作者：
Fowler, Velia M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cheng, Catherine;Gokhin, David S.;Fowler, Velia M.
眼睛的透镜是一个透明的器官，它折射和聚焦光线，在视网膜上形成清晰的图像。在人类中，睫状肌收缩使透镜变形，导致透镜的光焦度增加以聚焦在附近的物体上，这一过程被称为调节。透镜硬度的屈光不正相关变化与老花眼、透镜调节能力的降低、以及通过扩展对阅读眼镜的需要有关。尽管小鼠晶状体不适应或发展老花眼，但小鼠模型可以为理解透镜病理提供宝贵的遗传工具，并且在小鼠中观察到的加速老化使得能够研究透镜中与年龄相关的变化。该方案证明了一种简单、精确和具有成本效益的方法，用于确定小鼠透镜刚度，使用盖玻片将顺序增加的压缩载荷施加到透镜上。代表性数据证实，小鼠晶状体随着年龄的增长变得更硬，就像人类晶状体一样。该方法具有高度可重复性，并且可以按比例放大以机械测试来自较大动物的晶状体。
The eye lens is a transparent organ that refracts and focuses light to form a clear image on the retina. In humans, ciliary muscles contract to deform the lens, leading to an increase in the lens' optical power to focus on nearby objects, a process known as accommodation. Age-related changes in lens stiffness have been linked to presbyopia, a reduction in the lens' ability to accommodate, and, by extension, the need for reading glasses. Even though mouse lenses do not accommodate or develop presbyopia, mouse models can provide an invaluable genetic tool for understanding lens pathologies, and the accelerated aging observed in mice enables the study of age-related changes in the lens. This protocol demonstrates a simple, precise, and cost-effective method for determining mouse lens stiffness, using glass coverslips to apply sequentially increasing compressive loads onto the lens. Representative data confirm that mouse lenses become stiffer with age, like human lenses. This method is highly reproducible and can potentially be scaled up to mechanically test lenses from larger animals.