Beryl J. Ortwerth

TL;DR: The results suggest that redox imbalance in cellular senescent systems such as the ocular lens may lead to irreversible ascorbate oxidation and protein crosslinking by xylosone, which may play an important role in the pathogenesis of "brunescent" cataracts.

TL;DR: The distribution of mitochondria was mapped in living lenses by 2‐photon microscopy and it was found that a steep gradient of PO2 was maintained within the tissue, leading to PO2 < 2 mmHg in the core, indicating the presence of non‐mitochondrial oxygen consumers.

TL;DR: ERU is an extremely reactive ketose, which rapidly glycates and crosslinks proteins, and therefore may mediate the AsA-dependent modification of protein (ascorbylation) seen in vitro, and also proposed to occur in vivo in human lens during diabetic and age-onset cataract formation.

TL;DR: The incubation of calf lens extracts with 20 mM ascorbic acid under sterile conditions for 8 weeks caused extensive protein crosslinking, which was not observed with either 20 mM sorbitol or 20 mM glucose, and ascorBic acid did induce the formation of high-molecular-weight protein aggregates as determined by Agarose A-5m chromatography.

TL;DR: Data strongly implicate vitamin C in lens crystallin aging and may serve as a model for protein aging in other tissues particularly rich in vitamin C, such as the hippocampal neurons and the adrenal gland.