mRNA cycles through hypoxia-induced stress granules in live Drosophila embryonic muscles.

In some myopathies, hypoxia can be the result of pathologic effects like muscle necrosis and abnormal blood flow. At the molecular level, the consequence of hypoxic conditions is not yet fully understood. Under stress conditions, many housekeeping gene mRNAs are translationally silenced, while translation of other mRNAs increases.

In vivo monitoring of mRNA movement in Drosophila body wall muscle cells reveals the presence of myofiber domains.

Background: In skeletal muscle each muscle cell, commonly called myofiber, is actually a large syncytium containing numerous nuclei. Experiments in fixed myofibers show that mRNAs remain localized around the nuclei in which they are produced.

Methodology/principal Findings: In this study we generated transgenic flies that allowed us to investigate the movement of mRNAs in body wall myofibers of living Drosophila embryos.