Morphology of donor lens-capsule material studied by SEM

Abstract

The lens capsule of a 70-year-old male donor with a cataractous lens was carefully prepared for SEM by first washing the capsule with buffer solution to remove lens-fibres and subsequently attaching it to silicon rubber. During the fixation and drying stages of the preparation procedure the capsule stayed attached to the rubber substratum. In the equatorial zone germinating cells were found with knob-shaped microvilli, closely connected to lens-fibres. Large units of pathological capsule epithelial cells were found, only slightly inter connected by a few pseudopodia. In addition, single pathological epithelial cells with pseudopodia, arranged on top of the cell in a rosette-like configuration, were found at certain locations. Both types are probably related to the original lens-cataract.