Fig. 1

Constitutive lanosterol treatment reversed cataract in zebrafish. (A, B) Schematic of experimental procedure using zebrafish. (C, D and E) Schematic of experimental results. (A) The lenses of zebrafish were irradiated by 254 nm UV-C at a dosage of 3250 mJ/cm²/d for 7 days to induce cataract. (B) After cataract induction, the fish with a severe cataract phenotype were divided into four treatment groups as follows: no drug, BSS, β-CD, and lanosterol (LS) in β-CD. Lenses were covered with a compound-infiltrated sponge for five minutes twice a day for 10 days. The zebrafish were anesthetized and photographed using the same method used for cataract induction. After a 5-μL instillation of the intended compound, a 5 × 5 mm sponge infiltrated with the intended compound was applied on the right eye. After five minutes, the zebrafish was placed in a dark water tank for 60 minutes to recover from the anesthesia. (C) Gray-scale quantification of lenses of fish in the experiment. The results are expressed as means ± standard deviation. Gray scale 255 indicates totally clear, whereas 0 means totally opaque. The average gray scale of the untreated left eye was 241 at the beginning of the experiments, and the value was stable throughout the course of the experiments. Asterisks indicate significant differences (P < 0.05, independent t-test) between ND and other groups. (D) Changes in gray scales after seven days treatment with indicated compounds. Detailed gray scales of lens and sample numbers are summarized in Supplementary Tables S1 to S4. *P < 0.05, independent t-test. (E) Images of day 10 zebrafish lenses treated with no drug, BSS, β-CD, or LS in β-CD.