Tunica vasculosa lentis

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| Name = Tunica vasculosa lentis

| Latin = tunica vasculosa lentis

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The tunica vasculosa lentis is an extensive capillary network, spreading over the posterior and lateral surfaces of the lens of the eye. It disappears normally shortly after birth, through apoptosis.{{cite journal|url= https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0177(199811)213:3%3C322::AID-AJA8%3E3.0.CO;2-E|journal=Developmental Dynamics|volume=213|issue=3 |pages=322–333|title=Regression of vessels in the tunica vasculosa lentis is initiated by coordinated endothelial apoptosis: A role for vascular endothelial growth factor as a survival factor for endothelium|first1=Christopher A. |last1=Mitchell|first2=Werner |last2=Risau|first3=Hannes C.A. |last3=Drexler|date=December 16, 1998|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1097-0177(199811)213:3<322::AID-AJA8>3.0.CO;2-E |pmid=9825867 |access-date=November 25, 2024}}

The structure was not studied properly and in detail until the 1960s, when new technologies developed to allow the preservation of the networks in fetuses.{{cite journal |url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Tunica+vasculosa+lentis%22#d=gs_qabs&t=1732595878029&u=%23p%3DDYnDuPBCMZoJ|title=The structure of fetal hyaloid system and tunica vasculosa lentis|first1=Firket|last1=Mutlu|first2=Irving H.|last2=Leobard|journal=Archives of Ophthalmology|volume=71|issue =1|pages=102–110|year=1964|doi=10.1001/archopht.1964.00970010118019 |pmid=14066026 |access-date=November 25, 2024}} The scanning electron microscope finally enabled researchers to see the network even in very small laboratory animals such as the mouse embryo.{{cite journal|url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Tunica+vasculosa+lentis%22#d=gs_qabs&t=1732596688428&u=%23p%3DQ2T6RMYxHOcJ|title=Regression of the tunica vasculosa lentis in the postnatal rat.|first1=Carole H |last1=Latker|first2=Toichiro |last2=Kuwabara|journal=Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |volume=21 |issue=5|pages=689–699|year=1981| access-date=November 25, 2024}}