Immunofluorescence studies of the cytoskeletal and contractile elements in cultured human trabecular cells

Characteristics of the distribution of cytoskeletal and contractile elements in cultured human trabecular cells were studied using the immunofluorescence method. Actin microfilaments exhibited stress fiber images which were observed throughout the cell body in a parallel pattern and were concentrated in the cell periphery. Myosin also revealed stress fibers with a distribution corresponding to actin distribution. Vimentin intermediate filaments and microtubules were stained in a filamentous pattern radiating from near the nucleus to the cell periphery. These intermediate filaments and microtubules were more densely and more abundantly observed throughout the cytoplasm in the cultured human trabecular cells than in the cultured human skin fibroblasts. These results suggest that the trabecular cell cytoskeleton plays an important role in maintaining the structural integrity and normal function of the trabecular meshwork.