Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1979 Oct;295:241–249. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1979.sp012965

The properties of bovine lens membranes measured by a conventional double-chamber method

N A Delamere 1,*, G Duncan 1
PMCID: PMC1279042  PMID: 521929

Abstract

1. When the bovine lens was mounted in a divided chamber, an asymmetry potential of 4·3 mV (anterior face positive) was measured across the lens and values of 0·48 and 0·60 were obtained for PNa/PK of the anterior and posterior faces respectively.

2. The half-times for the depolarization of the anterior and posterior face potentials on increasing the external K concentration were 20 and 14 min respectively compared to less than 2 min for the corresponding change determined previously from the totally immersed lens.

3. The electrical resistance of the anterior surface was significantly smaller than that of the posterior and both resistances were much smaller than the value previously obtained from the bovine lens immersed in solution.

4. The K permeability of the anterior surface, measured by 42K efflux experiments, was greater than the value for the posterior surface and both were again very much higher than the value obtained for the totally immersed lens.

5. The discrepancies between the present double-chamber preparation and the data obtained previously can be explained if it is assumed that the capsule provides a short-circuit pathway between the chamber port and the lens membranes. As the capsule is thicker at the anterior face, the short circuit there would be greater and this may explain many previously observed `asymmetry' properties for the lens.

Full text

PDF
241

Images in this article

247Fig. 3
on p.247

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bentley P. J., Candia O. A. Effects of amphotericin B on ionic transport and sodium permeability of the toad lens. Am J Physiol. 1975 Dec;229(6):1520–1525. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1975.229.6.1520. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Candia O. A., Bentley P. J., Mills C. D. Short-circuit current and active Na transport across isolated lens of the toad. Am J Physiol. 1971 Feb;220(2):558–564. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1971.220.2.558. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Candia O. A., Bentley P. J., Mills C. D., Toyofuku H. Asymmetrical distribution of the potential difference in the toad lens. Nature. 1970 Aug 22;227(5260):852–853. doi: 10.1038/227852a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Delamere N. A., Duncan G. A comparison of ion concentrations, potentials and conductances of amphibian, bovine and cephalopod lenses. J Physiol. 1977 Oct;272(1):167–186. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1977.sp012039. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Duncan G., Bushell A. R. The bovine lens as an ion-exchanger: a comparison with ion levels in human cataractous lenses. Exp Eye Res. 1976 Sep;23(3):341–353. doi: 10.1016/0014-4835(76)90133-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Duncan G., Juett J. R., Croghan P. C. A simple chamber for measuring lens asymmetry potentials. Exp Eye Res. 1977 Oct;25(4):391–398. doi: 10.1016/0014-4835(77)90106-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Duncan G. Kinetics of potassium movement across amphibian lens membranes. Exp Eye Res. 1969 Oct;8(4):413–420. doi: 10.1016/s0014-4835(69)80007-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Duncan G. The site of the ion restricting membranes in the toad lens. Exp Eye Res. 1969 Oct;8(4):406–412. doi: 10.1016/s0014-4835(69)80006-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kinsey V. E., McGrady A. V. Studies on the crystalline lens. XVII. Bioelectric potentials as affected by cationic compositions of bathing medium. Invest Ophthalmol. 1971 Apr;10(4):282–287. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Paterson C. A. Efflux of 22Na and 86Rb from the crystalline lens. Exp Eye Res. 1970 Oct;10(2):331–338. doi: 10.1016/s0014-4835(70)80045-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Takeguchi N., Nakagaki M. Concentration dependence of permeability coefficient to an electrolyte component across bovine lens capsule in vitro. Biophys J. 1969 Aug;9(8):1029–1044. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3495(69)86434-9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Takeguchi N., Nakagaki M. Membrane potentials across the bovine lens capsule in vitro. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1970 Dec 1;219(2):405–414. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(70)90218-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES