Abstract
The prevalence of nuclear cataracts was observed to be significantly higher among residents of tropical and subtropical regions compared to those of temperate and subarctic regions. We hypothesized that elevated environmental temperatures may pose a risk of nuclear cataract development. The results of our in silico simulation revealed that in temperate and tropical regions, the human lens temperature ranges from 35.0 °C to 37.5 °C depending on the environmental temperature. The medium temperature changes during the replacement regularly in the cell culture experiment were carefully monitored using a sensor connected to a thermometer and showed a decrease of 1.9 °C, 3.0 °C, 1.7 °C, and 0.1 °C, after 5 min when setting the temperature of the heat plate device at 35.0 °C, 37.5 °C, 40.0 °C, and 42.5 °C, respectively. In the newly created immortalized human lens epithelial cell line clone NY2 (iHLEC-NY2), the amounts of RNA synthesis of αA crystallin, protein expression, and amyloid β (Aβ)1-40 secreted into the medium were increased at the culture temperature of 37.5 °C compared to 35.0 °C. In short-term culture experiments, the secretion of Aβ1-40 observed in cataracts was increased at 37.5 °C compared to 35.0 °C, suggesting that the long-term exposure to a high-temperature environment may increase the risk of cataracts.
Highlights
The crystalline lens is surrounded by a lens capsule containing a large amount of type IV collagen; this capsule functions as the basement membrane of lens epithelial cells (LECs) arranged in a single layer at the anterior zone
For test subjects exposed to solar radiation, an additional heat load obtained from the electromagnetic computation was applied
When the newly prepared iHLEC-NY2 cells were cultured at 37.5 ◦ C
Summary
The crystalline lens is surrounded by a lens capsule containing a large amount of type IV collagen; this capsule functions as the basement membrane of lens epithelial cells (LECs) arranged in a single layer at the anterior zone. The tissue stem cells of LECs at the germinative zone proliferate at a low level in the bow area near the equatorial segment of the crystalline lens [1], and the cytoplasm extends toward the anterior and posterior poles of the lens after separation from the lens capsule, resulting in lens fiber cells These cells surround the lens fetal nucleus formed at the developmental stage while further differentiating into lens fibers. Presbyopia occurs due to a decrease in accommodation power by sclerosis of the crystalline lens nucleus with aging; this is thought to be a precursor of nuclear cataract In their investigation of the relationship between environmental temperature and the age at presbyopia onset, Miranda et al observed that individuals who live in geographic regions with higher temperatures develop presbyopia earlier [2]. The environmental temperature may pose a risk of nuclear cataract development
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