• lenses appear normal at P8, however by P21, lens fiber cells show variable degrees of degeneration, with small vacuoles appearing in the equatorial epithelial cells and superficial cortical fiber cells

• by 6 weeks of age, all lenses exhibit abnormalities comprising of large vacuoles in cortical fiber cells and swollen nucleated fiber cells (bladder cells) with protein-filled lacunae

• the fiber cell migration and elongation patter is defective at the equatorial region

• mutants exhibit nuclear cataracts of varying severities