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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Characterization of Molecular Mechanisms of In vivo UVR Induced Cataract
Published on: November 28, 2012
Lanosterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol dissociate crystallin aggregates isolated from cataractous human lens via
Xiang-Jun Chen1, Li-Dan Hu2, Ke Yao3
1State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Eye Institute of Zhejiang University, Eye Center of the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
Abstract:
Cataract, a crystallin aggregation disease, is the leading cause of human blindness worldwide. Surgery is the only established treatment of cataracts and no anti-cataract drugs are available thus far. Recently lanosterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol have been reported to redissolve crystallin aggregates and partially restore lens transparency in animals. However, the efficacies of these two compounds have not been quantitatively studied ex vivo using patient tissues. In this research, we developed a quantitative assay applicable to efficacy validations and mechanistic studies by a protocol to isolate protein aggregates from the surgically removed cataractous human lens. Our results showed that both compounds were effective for human cataractous samples with EC50 values at ten micromolar level. The efficacies of both compounds strongly depended on cataract severity. Lanosterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol were two mechanistically different lead compounds of anti-cataract drug design.
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