Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (Fgfr1) is not essential for lens fiber differentiation in mice.

Purpose The developing lens expresses at least three different FGF receptor genes (Fgfr1-3) and FGFs have been shown to induce lens epithelial cells to differentiate into fiber cells both in vitro and in vivo. While the loss of Fgfr2 alone does not prevent fiber differentiation and the loss of Fgfr3 alone does not appear to affect lens development the independent role of Fgfr1 in lens development has not been reported. These experiments were conducted to determine if Fgfr1 plays an independent essential role in lens development.