We have been able to identify a blue fluorophore from the low-molecular weight soluble fraction of human adult nondiabetic brunescent cataract lenses As xanthurenic acid 8-O-beta-D-glucoside (XA8OG) (excitation 338 nm and emission = 440 nm). To determine the role of this fluorophore in the lens, we have examined its photophysical and photodynamic properties. We found XA80G to have a fluorescence quantum yield (phi) of 0.22 and a major emission lifetime of 12 us. We found it to be a UVA-region sensitizer, capable of efficiently generating singlet oxygen species hut little of superoxide We also demonstrated that XA80G oxidizes proteins when irradiated with UVA light, causing photodynamic covalent chemical damage to proteins. Its Accumulation in the aging human lens (and the attendant decrease of its precursor O-beta-D-glucoside of 3-hydroxykynurenine) can, thus, add to the oxidative burden on the system. XA80G, thus, appears to be an endogenous chromophore in the lens, which can act as a cataractogenic agent.