Eye lens organoids going simple: characterization of a new 3-dimensional organoid model for lens development and pathology.

The ocular lens, along with the cornea, focuses light on the retina to generate sharp images. Opacification of the lens, or cataract, is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Presently, the best approach for cataract treatment is to surgically remove the diseased lens and replace it with an artificial implant. Although effective, this is costly and can have post-surgical complications. Toward identifying alternate treatments, it is imperative to develop organoid models relevant for lens studies and anti-cataract drug screening. Here, we demonstrate that by culturing mouse lens epithelial cells under defined 3-dimensional (3D) culture conditions, it is possible to generate organoids that display optical properties and recapitulate many aspects of lens organization at the tissue, cellular and transcriptomic levels. These 3D cultured lens organoids can be rapidly produced in large amounts. High-throughput RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) on specific organoid regions isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM) and immunofluorescence assays demonstrate that these lens organoids display spatiotemporal expression of key lens genes,