Freshly isolated rabbit ocular lenses with or without adhering iris-ciliary complex were organ cultured. It was found that lenses with iris-ciliary complex showed decreased protein synthetic ability. Vimentin, a cytoskeletal protein and MP-26, a membrane associated protein, were used as markers for protein synthetic activity. Removal of the iris-ciliary complex at least partially restores the protein synthetic capability of the lens. The ocular lenses cultured with iris-ciliary complex for 48 hr showed marked equatorial opacities.