Fig. 1: The lens fibers of human highly myopic cataracts exhibit a highly polarized and compacted alignment. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: The lens fibers of human highly myopic cataracts exhibit a highly polarized and compacted alignment.

From: TGF-β1-induced m6A modifications accelerate onset of nuclear cataract in high myopia by modulating the PCP pathway

Fig. 1

a Representative slit-lamp photos of cataract (mild to severe) from typical human ARC and HMC eyes. b The schematic diagram of human lens (left) and an example SEM pre-scan of the human donor freeze-fractured lens half (Right, scale bar: 300 μm). Red rectangles show the ROI at the juxtanuclear area of the cortex in formal scans. c Representative freeze-fractured SEM scans of lens fibers in ROIs with enlarged views from age-matched healthy controls, ARC, and HMC lenses. Yellow rectangles highlight enlarged areas; yellow arrows indicate vacuoles/holes in fiber junctions; green arrows show fiber thickness. Scale bar: 2 μm (formal scan), 1 μm (enlarged view). d The average lens fiber thickness in control, ARC, and HMC measured in SEM scans (n = 10, control: ARC: p = 0.0002, HMC: p = 0.0129). e Schematic of primary human LEC culture. After capsulorhexis during cataract surgery, the lens capsule was collected and adhered to Petri dishes, allowing LECs to proliferate and migrate from the capsule rim (black arrows). Representative images show distinct LEC phenotypes from ARC and HMC patients. Dotted lines mark the capsule rim; black arrows show migration direction; yellow arrow indicates cell polarity. Scale bar: 200 μm. f Ratio of longest to shortest axis in migrated LECs compared between ARC and HMC; n = 10, p < 0.0001. g The immunofluorescent staining of F-actin in primary culture of human ARC and HMC LECs. Scale bar: 200 μm. The 2D FFT was conducted to obtain quantitative data of cell alignment. Radial sums were taken over the 2D FFT from 0° to 360° and plotted as raw intensity (gray value) vs. angle (degree). Red arrows show the intensity peaks in 0°, 180°, and 360° were evident for aligned cells (from HMC) but less so for random cells (from ARC). n = biological replicates. Data present are mean ± SD. Level of significance was detected using one-way ANOVA (d) and unpaired two-sided Student’s t-test (f). ****p < 0.0001, ***p < 0.001, *p < 0.05.

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