Muscle degeneration in aging Drosophila flies: the role of mechanical stress.

Muscle wasting is a universal hallmark of aging which is displayed by a wide range of organisms, although the causes and mechanisms of this phenomenon are not fully understood. We used Drosophila to characterize the phenomenon of spontaneous muscle fiber degeneration (SMFD) during aging. We found that SMFD occurs across diverse types of somatic muscles, progresses with chronological age, and positively correlates with functional muscle decline.