Intermediate filaments regulate tissue size and stiffness in the murine lens.

Purpose: To define the contributions of the beaded filament (BF), a lens-specific intermediate filament (IF), to lens morphology and biomechanics.

Methods: Wild-type and congenic CP49 knockout (KO) mice were compared by using electrophysiological, biomechanical, and morphometric approaches, to determine changes that occurred because of the absence of this cytoskeletal structure.

Results: Electrophysiological assessment established that the fiber cells lacking the lens-specific IFs were indistinguishable from wild-type fiber cells.