Weigelt, C.M., Hahn, O., Arlt, K., Gruhn, M., Jahn, A.J., Eßer, J., Werner, J.A., Klein, C., Büschges, A., Grönke, S., Partridge, L. (2019). Loss of miR-210 leads to progressive retinal degeneration in Drosophila melanogaster. Life Sci Alliance 2(1): e201800149.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0241271
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
miRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. We used small RNA sequencing to identify tissue-specific miRNAs in the adult brain, thorax, gut, and fat body of Drosophila melanogaster One of the most brain-specific miRNAs that we identified was miR-210, an evolutionarily highly conserved miRNA implicated in the regulation of hypoxia in mammals. In Drosophila, we show that miR-210 is specifically expressed in sensory organs, including photoreceptors. miR-210 knockout mutants are not sensitive toward hypoxia but show progressive degradation of photoreceptor cells, accompanied by decreased photoreceptor potential, demonstrating an important function of miR-210 in photoreceptor maintenance and survival.
