Figure 8.

Raising cGMP levels promotes the clearance of mutant proteins in zebrafish models of a tauopathy and Huntington’s disease. (Left Panel) Zebrafish larvae expressing the tauopathy-associated A15T mutation in neurons were treated with sildenafil for 5 days. Their content of the hyperphosphorylated tau, expressed as a fraction of the total tau, was decreased, indicating selective degradation of the disease-associated species. (Right Panel) In zebrafish larvae expressing huntingtin with a 71-glutamine repeat in the retinal photoreceptor cells, sildenafil treatment for 5 days also reduced the number of huntingtin aggregates (adapted from [16]). (* denotes p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, and *** p < 0.001).