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The Lens Circulation

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Abstract

The lens is the largest organ in the body that lacks a vasculature. The reason is simple: blood vessels scatter and absorb light while the physiological role of the lens is to be transparent so it can assist the cornea in focusing light on the retina. We hypothesize this lack of blood supply has led the lens to evolve an internal circulation of ions that is coupled to fluid movement, thus creating an internal micro-circulatory system, which makes up for the lack of vasculature. This review covers the membrane transport systems that are believed to generate and direct this internal circulatory system.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant EY06391 and The Health Research Council of New Zealand. We thank Dr. Linda Musil for a critical reading of a preliminary version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, , Stony Brook, NY, New York, 11794-8661

    Richard T. Mathias

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, 3 Symonds Street, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Joerg Kistler

  3. Department of Physiology, University of Auckland, 85 Park Road, Auckland, New Zealand

    Paul Donaldson

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  1. Richard T. Mathias
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Correspondence to Richard T. Mathias.

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Mathias, R.T., Kistler, J. & Donaldson, P. The Lens Circulation. J Membrane Biol 216, 1–16 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-007-9019-y

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