RD Genes Associated with High Photoreceptor cGMP-Levels (Mini-Review)

Many RD-causing mutations lead to a dysregulation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), making cGMP signalling a prime target for the development of new treatment approaches. We showed previously that an analogue of cGMP, which inhibited cGMP signalling targets, increased photoreceptor viability in three rodent RD models carrying different genetic defects, in different RD genes. This raises the question of the possible generality of this approach as a treatment for RD. Here, we review RD genes that can be associated with high cGMP and discuss which RD genes might be amenable to a treatment aimed at inhibiting excessive cGMP signalling.