The transcriptional changes of α A-crystallin and β23-crystallin genes in response to various concentrations of selenite were studied in RLE cells in vitro. The results showed that along with the increasing of selenite concentration, α A-crystallin transcription decreased, then went up sharply at 5×10^－5 mol/L Na₂SeO₃ . The results suggested that α A-crystallin might at least respond to high concentration of selenite and express as a stress protein. But β23-crystallin gene transcription showed increasing followed by decreasing with the increase of selenite concentration. It indicated that selenium might play a critical role in lens epithelial cell differentiation.