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Loss of miR-210 leads to progressive retinal degeneration in Drosophila melanogaster.

Carina M WeigeltOliver HahnKatharina ArltMatthias GruhnAnnika J JahnJacqueline EßerJennifer A WernerCorinna KleinAnsgar BüschgesSebastian GrönkeLinda Partridge
Published in: Life science alliance (2019)
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.
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