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Muscle Know-how
04 May 2012

Muscle Know-how

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are attractive model organisms. Scientists are enamoured by their transparent embryos, rapidly hatching eggs and their genetic similarity to mammals. Pictured is a microscopic section from a fruit fly embryo. Researchers have fluorescently tagged a protein called HOW to find out where it ends up when the insect muscles develop. They believe that HOW protein helps to maintain the circular arrangement of cells (along the top and bottom of the image) which become the fly’s abdominal muscles, as well as those that develop into heart (the chain of cells running left to right along the middle). The most similar protein in mammals (Quaking) helps insulate nerves as they grow. Reduced in sufferers of schizophrenia, researchers hope that by studying the fly protein they will better understand how Quaking works in humans. Understanding how schizophrenia develops has implications for the treatment of this traumatic illness.

Written by Mary-Clare Hallsworth

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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