Current‐voltage relationships in the crystalline lens.

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Abstract
Electrical coupling between the cells of the crystalline lens of the frog [Rana pipiens] eye was studied using 2 intralenticular microelectrodes, 1 to pass current and 1 to record potential. In most experiments, both electrodes were placed just inside the posterior surface of the lens at a depth of approximately 200 .mu.m from the surface. Step functions of current were applied and the time course of the resulting change in voltage was measured at many different electrode separations. The voltage change had both a fast component, which occurs only locally in the region close to the current passing microelectrode, and a slow component, which was spatially uniform, independent of distance from the current microelectrode. This behavior was predicted by an electrical model of a single large spherical cell, and that model was used to analyze the data. The resistivity of the lens interior (both cytoplasm and coupling resistivity) was 625 .OMEGA. cm; the resistance of the lens membrane was 2751 .OMEGA. cm2. The data and analysis help to reconcile discrepancies between previous measurements of the electrical properties of the lens and show clearly that there is substantial electrical coupling from cell to cell. The method should allow investigation of the role of electrical coupling in cataract formation in the crystalline lens.

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