A Human Three-Dimensional In Vitro Model of Lens Epithelial Cells as a Model to Study Mechanisms of Drug-Induced Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts

Purpose: Cataract is a pathological opacification of the lens, which is still one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. Several etiologies are described, among them drug-induced cataract, for example, posterior subcapsular cataract (PSC) after steroid treatment. To investigate different mechanisms of drug-induced cataract a human three-dimensional (3D) lens in vitro model was developed, consisting of immortalized human lens epithelial cells. Methods: These cells were cultivated on 96-well, ultralow attachment plates, where they rapidly form spheroids. By gene expression analysis different markers were observed, which are important to maintain lens transparency, such as ephrin type-A receptor 2 ( EphA2 ) or α-smooth muscle actin ( α-SMA ). Results: The lens epithelial cells form a spheroid within a few days and show stable expression of important lens marker, and size and viability remain stable up to 26 days in culture. The gene expression of the glucocorticoid-treated spheroids revealed a clear shift in the expression of EphA2 , α-SMA , αB-crystallin ( CRYAB ), and heat shock protein beta-1 ( HSPB1 ). Furthermore, the glucocorticoid treatment did not improve cell survival. Conclusions: This study proposes a useful 3D in vitro model, which expresses important lens markers and is capable of demonstrating features found in drug-induced cataracts. As the viability remains stable over long time, this model can also be used for long-term treatment. The main characteristics are the increased expression of α-SMA, CRYAB , and HSPB1 and the decreased expression of EphA2 . The present data provide some first evidence on novel mechanisms involved in glucocorticoid-induced cataracts.