Name: sequential application of glass coverslips to assess the compressive stiffness of the mouse lens: strain and morphometric analyses
Uploaded: 2016-05-03T12:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Sequential Application of Glass Coverslips to Assess the Compressive Stiffness of the Mouse Lens: Strain and Morphometric Analyses at JoVE.com

This work was supported by National Eye Institute Grant R01 EY017724 (VMF) and National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Grant K99 AR066534 (DSG).

All animal procedures were performed in accordance with recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals by the National Institutes of Health and under an approved protocol by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at The Scripps Research Institute.
1. Lens Dissection
<ol>
	<li>Euthanize mice according to recommendations in the National Institutes of Health &#34;Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals&#34; and approved institution animal use protocols...

<ol>
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There are several key considerations when using this method to measure lens stiffness. First, the coverslips are applied to the lens at a slightly oblique angle (8 - 8.5&#176;) with respect to the bottom of the chamber (&#952;). This will apply a very small component of the load equatorially rather than axially. However, this equatorial load is considered negligible because sin &#952; &#8776; 0.119. If this method is adapted for larger lenses, the angle of the coverslips to the bottom of the chamber would need...

The lens is a transparent and avascular organ in the anterior chamber of the eye that is responsible for fine focusing of light onto the retina. A clear basement membrane, called the lens capsule, surrounds a bulk of elongated fiber cells covered by an anterior monolayer of epithelial cells1,2. Life-long growth of the lens depends on the continuous proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells at the lens equator into new fiber cells that are added onto previous generations of fiber cells in a concentric manner2. Over time, lens fiber cells undergo compaction, resulting in a rigid center in the middle of the lens called the nucleus1. Accommodation, defined as a dioptric change in the optical power of the eye, occurs in humans when the ciliary muscles contract to deform the lens and allow a true increase in optical power to focus on near objects3-5. In the unaccommodated eye, the lens is held in a relatively flattened state due to tension from zonular fibers. When the ciliary muscles contract, the tension on the lens is released, leading to decreased lens equatorial diameter and increased axial thickness. Age-related changes in the lens cause presbyopia, a progressive loss of lens accommodation, which leads to the need for reading glasses. 
Several studies have linked presbyopia to age-related increase in the intrinsic stiffness of the lens6-11. Stiffness is defined as the resistance of an elastic object to deform under applied load. A variety of methods have been used to examine stiffness of human lenses, including spin compression12-14, actuator compression15, probe indentation16, dynamic mechanical analysis 6,10 and bubble-based acoustic radiation force17. While mouse lenses do not accommodate or develop presbyopia, mouse models for lens pathologies are valuable tools because mice are less expensive than larger animals, well characterized genetically and undergo accelerated age-related changes due to rapid aging. A handful of studies have examined mouse lens stiffness with compression methods and demonstrated changes in lens stiffness due to aging or targeted genetic disruptions18-21. Thus, mouse lenses are good models for studying age-related changes in lens stiffness. 
This protocol describes a simple and inexpensive, yet precise and reproducible, compression method for determining mouse lens stiffness based on application of glass coverslips onto the lens in conjunction with photographing the lens through a dissection microscope and mirror. This method yields robust strain and morphometric data with an easily fabricated and assembled apparatus. The representative results confirm that mouse lenses increase in stiffness with age.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="811">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:361px;">Fine tip straight forceps</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Fine Scientific Tools</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11252-40</td>
			<td style="width:193px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Microdissection scissors, straight edge</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Fine Scientific Tools</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">15000-00</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Curved forceps</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Fine Scientific Tools</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11272-40</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Seizing forceps</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Hammacher</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">HSC 702-93</td>
			<td>Optional</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Dissection dish</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">12565154</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">60mm petri dish</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">0875713A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">1X phosphate buffered saline (PBS)</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Life Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">14190</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">18mm x 18mm glass coverslips</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">12-542A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Measurement chamber with divots to hold lenses</td>
			<td style="width:139px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Custom-made (see Figure 1)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Right-angle mirror</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Edmund Optics</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">45-591</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Light source</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Schott/Fostec</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">8375</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Illuminated dissecting microscope</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Olympus</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SZX-ILLD100</td>
			<td>With SZ-PT phototube</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Digital camera</td>
			<td style="width:139px;">Nikon</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Coolpix 990</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

sequential application of glass coverslips to assess the compressive stiffness of the mouse lens: strain and morphometric analyses

The eye lens is a transparent organ that refracts and focuses light to form a clear image on the retina. In humans, ciliary muscles contract to deform the lens, leading to an increase in the lens&#39; optical power to focus on nearby objects, a process known as accommodation. Age-related changes in lens stiffness have been linked to presbyopia, a reduction in the lens&#39; ability to accommodate, and, by extension, the need for reading glasses. Even though mouse lenses do not accommodate or develop presbyopia, mouse models can provide an invaluable genetic tool for understanding lens pathologies, and the accelerated aging observed in mice enables the study of age-related changes in the lens. This protocol demonstrates a simple, precise, and cost-effective method for determining mouse lens stiffness, using glass coverslips to apply sequentially increasing compressive loads onto the lens. Representative data confirm that mouse lenses become stiffer with age, like human lenses. This method is highly reproducible and can potentially be scaled up to mechanically test lenses from larger animals.

The stiffness and dimensions of 2-, 4- and 8-month-old mouse lenses were measured. Mice were all wild-type animals on a pure C57BL6 strain background obtained from the TSRI Animal Breeding Facility, and each lens was loaded with 1 to 10 coverslips. The axial and equatorial strains were calculated as a function of applied load by measuring the axial and equatorial diameters of the lens after the addition of each coverslip, and then normalizing each change in diameter to the corresponding u...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Sequential Application of Glass Coverslips to Assess the Compressive Stiffness of the Mouse Lens: Strain and Morphometric Analyses at JoVE.com

Sequential Application of Glass Coverslips to Assess the Compressive Stiffness of the Mouse Lens: Strain and Morphometric Analyses

Age-related increases in eye lens stiffness are linked to presbyopia. This protocol describes a simple, cost-effective method for measuring mouse lens stiffness. Mouse lenses, like human lenses, become stiffer with age. This method is precise and can be adapted for lenses from larger animals.

The eye lens is a transparent organ that refracts and focuses light to form a clear image on the retina. In humans, ciliary muscles contract to deform the ...

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