A model of muscle atrophy based on livemicroscopy of muscle remodelling in Drosophila metamorphosis

Abstract

Genes controlling muscle size and survival play important roles in muscle wasting diseases. In Drosophila melanogaster metamorphosis, larval abdominal muscles undergo two developmental fates. While a doomed population is eliminated by cell death, another persistent group is remodelled and survives into adulthood. To identify and characterize genes involved in the development of remodelled muscles, we devised a workflow consisting ofin vivo imaging, targeted gene perturbation and quantitative image analysis.