Motor defects in a Drosophila model for spinal muscular atrophy result from SMN depletion during early neurogenesis.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the most common autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease, and is characterised by spinal motor neuron loss, impaired motor function and, often, premature death.Mutations and deletions in the widely expressed survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene cause SMA; however, the mechanisms underlying the selectivity of mot