Changes in adhesion complexes define stages in the differentiation of lens fiber cells.

Abstract

The adhesion complexes of lens fiber cells change in organization and composition soon after these cells finish elongating and detach from the capsule. Increased staining for vinculin and paxillin defines distinct stages of fiber cell differentiation that are intermediate between the completion of cell elongation and the time when lens fiber cells degrade their membrane-bound organelles. Remodeling adhesion complexes during fiber cell maturation may assure the stability of fiber-fiber associations, once these cells are no longer transcriptionally active.