Abstract
Lens epithelial cells are said to “transdifferentiate” into myofibroblasts by a process that includes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Myofibroblast formation often occurs in response to an injury to the lens epithelium. Alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) is commonly used as a marker of myofibroblast formation (Nagamoto et al., 2000). Cataract surgery, which is a major injury to epithelial cells, leads to myofibroblast formation and these “transdifferentiated” lens epithelial cells can form secondary cataracts (for review see Wormstone, 2002). We noted that α-SMA transcripts were detected on microarrays probed with mRNA from freshly-isolated rat lens epithelial cells (not shown). Further studies revealed that α-SMA is normally present in the lens epithelia of several species.
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