Methods of Identifying Disease Biomarkers in the Lense of the Eye

The method of claim 3, wherein the amyloid-related disorder is at least one member selected from the group consisting of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Familial AD, Sporadic AD, and cataracts.

A method of diagnosing an amyloid-related disorder or a predisposition thereto in a mammal, comprising illuminating mammalian lens tissue with an excitation light beam and detecting scattered light emitted from said tissue, wherein an increase in scattered light emitted from at least one of a nuclear, supranuclear, peripheral or cortical region of an ocular lens is indicative of the presence of a metal-protein complex, wherein the metal-protein complex comprises at least one amyloid protein selected from the group consisting of β-amyloid precursor protein (APP), Aβ, and Aβ1-42, and wherein the increase indicates that the mammal is suffering from or is at risk of developing an amyloid-related disorder.

A method of diagnosing an amyloid-related cataract or a predisposition thereto in an ocular lens of a subject comprising the steps of detecting a metal-protein, complex in at least one of a nuclear, supranuclear, peripheral or cortical region of the ocular lens using Raman Spectroscopy, wherein said metal-protein complex comprises at least one amyloid protein selected from the group consisting of β-amyloid precursor protein (APP), β-amyloid protein (Aβ), Aβ1-40, and Aβ1-42, indicated by at least one peakat about 1604 cm−1, 1586 cm−1 or a combination of both, and wherein an increase in the amount of metal-protein complex compared to a normal control value indicates that the subject is suffering from or is at risk of developing an amyloid-related cataract or AD.