Figure 1

Vimentin modifies mutant Htt aggregation. A. Representative confocal images show distribution of normal (16Q) and pathogenic (60Q and 150Q) tNHtt (green) and RFP or RFP-vimentin (red) in inducible tNHtt-polyQ-EGFP Neuro2a cells. Note the cages formed by vimentin in 60Q and 150Q Neuro2a cells. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar, 5 μm. B. RFP-vimentin expression increased and vimentin knock-down reduced polyQ aggregation and levels of total mutant Htt in 150Q Neuro2a cells as compared to the control. C. The effect of RFP-vimentin on Htt levels is polyQ length-dependent. While tNHtt-60Q-EGFP and tNHtt-150Q-EGFP accumulated as the insoluble forms at the gel top, tNHtt-16Q-EGFP levels remained unchanged upon RFP-vimentin transfection.