Vibrational microspectroscopy analysis of human lenses

Abstract

In this study we present vibrational analysis of healthy (non-affected by cataract) and cataractous human lenses by means of Raman and FTIR spectroscopy methods. The performed analysis provides complex information about the secondary structure of the proteins and conformational changes of the amino acid residues due to the formation of opacification of human lens. Briefly, the changes in the conformation of the Tyr and Trp residues and the protein secondary structure between the healthy and cataractous samples, were recognized. Moreover, the observed spectral pattern suggests that the process of cataract development does not occur uniformly over the entire volume of the lens.

Keywords: Cataract; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); Human lens; Raman spectroscopy (RS).