Figure 4. dme-miR-277 or dme-miR-304 silencing rescue muscle atrophy in model flies.

(a–c,e–g) Representative dorsoventral sections of resin-embedded thoraces of flies with the indicated relevant genotypes. Compared to control flies (a) muscle-specific expression of miR-277SP resulted into a significant reduction of indirect flight muscle (IFM) area (b) whereas miR-304SP expression had no effect on this phenotype (c) In DM1 model flies the IFM muscle area was reduced to 40% of normal (e) In model flies co-expressing either miR-277SP or miR-304SP and i(CTG)480 the muscle area increased to 60% of normal (f,g). (d,h) Quantification of the mean percentage of muscle area per genotype. The graphs show means ± s.e.m. All the indicated genotypes were driven to muscle using Mhc-Gal4. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (Student’s t-test). In all images the dorsal side is on top.