PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Carina M Weigelt AU - Oliver Hahn AU - Katharina Arlt AU - Matthias Gruhn AU - Annika J Jahn AU - Jacqueline Eßer AU - Jennifer A Werner AU - Corinna Klein AU - Ansgar Büschges AU - Sebastian Grönke AU - Linda Partridge TI - Loss of miR-210 leads to progressive retinal degeneration in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em> AID - 10.26508/lsa.201800149 DP - 2019 Feb 01 TA - Life Science Alliance PG - e201800149 VI - 2 IP - 1 4099 - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/2/1/e201800149.short 4100 - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/2/1/e201800149.full SO - Life Sci. Alliance2019 Feb 01; 2 AB - 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.