The lens, suspended in the middle of the eye by tendon-like ciliary zonule fibers and facing three different compartments of the eye, is enclosed in what has been described as the thickest basement membrane in the body. While the protein components of the capsule have been a subject of study for many years, the dynamics of capsule formation, and the region-specific relationship of its basement membrane components to one another as well as to other matrix molecules remains to be explored. Through high resolution confocal and super-resolution imaging of the lens capsule and 3D surface renderings of acquired z-stacks, our studies revealed that each of its basement membrane proteins, laminin, collagen IV, nidogen and perlecan, has unique structure, organization, and distribution specific both to the region of the lens that the capsule is located in and the position of the capsule within the eye. We provide evidence of basal membrane gradients across the depth of the capsule as well as the synthesis of distinct basement membrane lamella within the capsule. These distinctions are most prominent in the equatorial capsule zone where collagen IV and nidogen span the capsule depth, while laminin and perlecan are located in two separate lamellae located at the innermost and outermost capsule domains. We discovered that an extracapsular matrix compartment rich in the connective tissue-like matrix molecules fibronectin, tenascin-C, and fibrillin is integrated with the superficial surface of the lens capsule. Each matrix protein in this extracapsular zone also exhibits region-specific distribution with fibrils of fibrillin, the matrix protein that forms the backbone of the ciliary zonules, inserting within the laminin/perlecan lamella at the surface of the equatorial lens capsule.

晶状体由肌腱状睫状小带纤维悬挂在眼睛中间，面向眼睛的三个不同隔室，被称为人体最厚的基底膜所包围。虽然胶囊的蛋白质成分多年来一直是研究的主题，但胶囊形成的动力学及其基底膜成分之间以及与其他基质分子的区域特异性关系仍有待探索。通过晶状体囊的高分辨率共聚焦和超分辨率成像以及获得的 z 堆叠的 3D 表面渲染，我们的研究表明，其每个基底膜蛋白、层粘连蛋白、胶原蛋白 IV、nidogen 和 perlecan，具有独特的结构、组织、以及特定于囊位于其中的晶状体区域和囊在眼内的位置的分布。我们提供了跨越胶囊深度的基底膜梯度以及胶囊内不同基底膜薄片的合成的证据。这些区别在赤道囊区最为突出，其中胶原蛋白 IV 和巢蛋白跨越囊深度，而层粘连蛋白和 perlecan 位于位于最内层和最外层囊域的两个独立薄片中。我们发现富含结缔组织样基质分子纤连蛋白、肌腱蛋白-C 和原纤维蛋白的囊外基质隔室与晶状体囊的表面结合在一起。