Extent and properties of nonbulk "bound" water in crystalline lens cells.
Crystalline lenses provided good material to study and measure the properties of cellular water. Different methods were used to establish the extent and properties of nonbulk water in mammalian lenses. These methods include: NMR titration analysis, a test of the osmotic properties, a test of dye exclusion In lenses with intact cell membranes and in lenses with disrupted cell membranes, and the water-holding capacity of lenses subjected to 40,000 x g for 1 hour with intact cell membranes and in lenses with disrupted cell membranes. The data from these methods, as well as other data from the literature, lead to the conclusion that most, if not all, of the water in lens cells (up to 2.2 g water/g dry mass) has motional and osmotic properties that distinguish it from bulk water. These findings call into question the common and convenient assumption that all but a small proportion of cellular water is like that in dilute solution.
Cameron
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Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio 78284.
Contreras
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E
Fullerton
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GD
Kellermayer
M
M
Ludány
A
A
Miseta
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism*; D002417:Cattle; D002498:Centrifugation; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D009995:Osmosis; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D051381:Rats; D013552:Swine