Showing papers by "Zacharias Dische published in 1956"

Changes in lens proteins of rats during aging.

Abstract: Changes in the lens of aged humans and animals are among the most conspicuous symptoms of the aging process in the animal body. They can be evaluated approximately by measuring changes in the refractive index of the lens. This and two other factors make the lens a particularly favorable object for investigations of the cellular mechanism of aging. The first of these factors is the relative simplicity of the morphological structure of the lens, due to the lack of vessels. The second factor is the apparent simplicity of the chemical composition and the abundance of the protein in the lens fibers. Two changes in the chemical composition of the lens with advancing age have long been recognized and studied: (1) the continuous loss of water in the lens, first investigated systematically by Burger and Schlomka 1 (1927) and by Salit, 2 and (2) the progressive accumulation, observed as far back

Proteins and protein synthesis in rat lenses with galactose cataract.

Abstract: It has previously been reported that the accumulation of albuminoid in lenses during the process of aging is associated with an increase in the cystine content of the lens proteins due to its presence in the albuminoid.* Evidence has, furthermore, been brought forward that in rat lenses this accumulation of cystine is due at least partly to an oxidation of cysteine of soluble lens proteins, 1 and it has been pointed out that this oxidative process, which goes on during the life span of the rat, seems to be the result of a delicately balanced equilibrium of oxidative and reductive processes in the lens. This could be necessary for the integration of the albuminoid into the lenticular structure and, therefore, the maintenance of the transparency of the lens. It has long been known 2 that the formation of senile cataract in man is accompanied by an increase of the albuminoid