Figure 6 |. 10 μM tranilast activates NMD and suppresses tau^R406W-induced neurodegeneration in Drosophila.

A) Tranilast alleviates NMD deficits in tau^R406W transgenic Drosophila based on reduced expression of the NMD reporter. n=12 biological replicates per genotype, per treatment. RNA levels of the NMD-sensitive transcript Gadd45 (B) and Arc1 (C) are reduced by tranilast treatment of tau^R406W transgenic Drosophila. n=12 biological replicates per genotype, per treatment. D) Pharmacological activation of NMD by tranilast significantly suppresses neuronal death in tau^R406W transgenic Drosophila based on TUNEL staining. n=6 biological replicates per genotype, per treatment. E) Ten days of tranilast treatment significantly suppresses tau^R406W-induced locomotor deficits. n=18 biological replicates per genotype, per treatment. F) Twenty days of tranilast treatment does not suppress tau^R406W -induced locomotor deficits. n=10 biological replicates per genotype, per treatment. G) Transgenic tau protein levels in DMSO- and tranilast-treated tau^R406W flies based on western blotting. H) Quantification of (G). n=4 biological replicates per treatment. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, unpaired t-test and one-way ANOVA. Error bars=SEM. Full genotypes are included in Supplemental Table 1.