Purpose: This study aims to investigate the expression levels of stem cell markers in the normal lens of rats.
Methods: Ten six-week-old female albino Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. After euthanasia, their lenses were extracted and divided into two components: Lens epithelial cells and lens cortical fiber cells. The presence of stem cell markers nestin, NGFR, and ABCG2 in both regions was analyzed using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTqPCR). The relative mRNA expression levels of these markers were compared between the two lens regions.
Results: The analysis revealed that nestin expression in lens epithelial cells was 229 times higher than in the lens cortical fiber cells. Similarly, ABCG2 showed a 23 fold increase in the epithelial cells. In contrast, NGFR was slightly more expressed in the epithelial cells, with a 0.9 fold difference compared to cortical fiber cells.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that nestin, NGFR and ABCG2 exhibit higher expression levels in rat lens epithelial cells than in cortical fiber cells.
