Chemotactic activity of lens proteins and the pathogenesis of phacolytic glaucoma

Leakage of lens proteins from a hypermature cataract can result in a characteristic glaucoma that is associated with the invasion of the anterior chamber by monocytes. We hypothesized that the lens proteins themselves might account for the monocyte response. A sonicated lens induced concentration-dependent migration of monocytes in a Boyden chamber assay system. Checkerboard analysis indicated that the movement was directed rather than merely random. Relative to a control chemoattractant, N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, the lens induced monocyte migration more potently than neutrophil migration. The ability to induce migration was markedly reduced by incubating the lens with either trypsin or papain. Chemotactic activity was readily demonstrable in lenses from young donors without cataracts. Separation of lens proteins by gel filtration with high-performance liquid chromatography indicated that the chemotactic activity was most consistently associated with the gamma crystallin fraction. The chemotactic activity of lens proteins may contribute to the pathogenesis of phacolytic glaucoma or the uveitis resulting from retained cortical material after cataract extraction.