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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Dissection of Human Vitreous Body Elements for Proteomic Analysis
Published on: January 23, 2011
Identification and localization of major soluble vitreous proteins in human ocular tissue
Charlie W Wu1, Jennifer L Sauter, Patrick K Johnson
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
Purpose:
To identify the major soluble proteins from human vitreous, and to establish a baseline for comparison of vitreous samples from eyes with various diseases.
Design:
Laboratory investigation.
Methods:
Normal vitreous was obtained from eight human donor eyes and from eight eyes of patients undergoing diabetic vitrectomy. Vitreous specimens were subjected to SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. Six specific antibodies were used to identify proteins using Western blot. Four proteins were localized within ocular tissue in a normal donor eyebank eye.
Results:
We found eight distinct bands on SDS-PAGE in normal vitreous and two additional bands (hemoglobin) in eyes with diabetic retinopathy. Proteins were identified using MALDI-TOF-MS and confirmed by Western blot. We established a quantitative analysis of relative protein concentrations of undiluted vitreous. Immunohistochemistry localized selected proteins within the posterior segment layers.
Conclusions:
We present a normal human vitreous protein profile using current technologies and provide a baseline for comparison to ocular disease states. Tissue distribution of vitreous proteins may help to elucidate more specific protein function.
