The Influence of Extracellular Matrix on Lens Epithelial Cell Viability

This is my PhD thesis as submitted to the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department of the University of Durham, UK. I studied the role of the lens capsule, the endogenous extra-cellular matrix of lens epithelial cells, on lens epithelial cells viability in the presence of stress, with emphasis on the importance of crystallins, matrix-metalloproteinases and growth factors.