This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 88/10/1053    most recent hh1001.090857v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Paternostro, G. Articles by Reed, J. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Paternostro, G. Articles by Reed, J. C. Related Collections Animal models of human disease Functional genomics Heart failure - basic studies Genetics of cardiovascular disease

(Circulation Research. 2001;88:1053.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Integrative Physiology

Age-Associated Cardiac Dysfunction in Drosophila melanogaster

Giovanni Paternostro, Carlo Vignola, Dirk-Uwe Bartsch, Jeff H. Omens, Andrew D. McCulloch, John C. Reed

From The Burnham Institute (G.P., J.C.R.), La Jolla, Calif, and the Shiley Eye Center (D.U.B.) and Department of Bioengineering (C.V., J.H.O., A.D.M.), University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.

Correspondence to Dr J.C. Reed, The Burnham Institute, 10901 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037. E-mail jreed{at}burnham-inst.org

Abstract—The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has served as a valuable model/organism for the study of aging and was the first organism possessing a circulatory system to have its genome completely sequenced. However, little is known about the function of the heartlike organ of flies during the aging process. We have developed methods for studying cardiac function in vivo in adult flies. Using 2 different cardiovascular stress methods (elevated ambient temperature and external electrical pacing), we found that maximal heart rate is significantly and reproducibly reduced with aging in Drosophila, analogous to observations in elderly humans. We also describe for the first time several other aspects of the cardiac physiology of young adult and aging Drosophila, including an age-associated increase in rhythm disturbances. These observations suggest that the study of declining cardiac function in aging flies may serve as a genetically tractable model for genome-wide mutational screening for genes that participate in or protect against cardiac aging and disease.

Key Words: aging • genetic screening • heart • Drosophila melanogaster

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Cammarato, C. M. Dambacher, A. F. Knowles, W. A. Kronert, R. Bodmer, K. Ocorr, and S. I. Bernstein Myosin Transducer Mutations Differentially Affect Motor Function, Myofibril Structure, and the Performance of Skeletal and Cardiac Muscles Mol. Biol. Cell, February 1, 2008; 19(2): 553 - 562. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. T. Wasserthal Drosophila flies combine periodic heartbeat reversal with a circulation in the anterior body mediated by a newly discovered anterior pair of ostial valves and `venous' channels J. Exp. Biol., November 1, 2007; 210(21): 3707 - 3719. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. E. Broderick, M. Balasubramanian, A. Chan, P. Potluri, J. Feala, D. D. Belke, A. McCulloch, V. S. Sharma, R. B. Pilz, T. D. Bigby, et al. The Cobalamin Precursor Cobinamide Detoxifies Nitroprusside-Generated Cyanide Experimental Biology and Medicine, June 1, 2007; 232(6): 789 - 798. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Ocorr, N. L. Reeves, R. J. Wessells, M. Fink, H.-S. V. Chen, T. Akasaka, S. Yasuda, J. M. Metzger, W. Giles, J. W. Posakony, et al. KCNQ potassium channel mutations cause cardiac arrhythmias in Drosophila that mimic the effects of aging PNAS, March 6, 2007; 104(10): 3943 - 3948. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. E. Broderick, J. Feala, A. McCulloch, G. Paternostro, V. S. Sharma, R. B. Pilz, and G. R. Boss The nitric oxide scavenger cobinamide profoundly improves survival in a Drosophila melanogaster model of bacterial sepsis FASEB J, September 1, 2006; 20(11): 1865 - 1873. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Akasaka, S. Klinedinst, K. Ocorr, E. L. Bustamante, S. K. Kim, and R. Bodmer The ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel-encoded dSUR gene is required for Drosophila heart function and is regulated by tinman PNAS, August 8, 2006; 103(32): 11999 - 12004. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. K. Johnson, S. W. McKechnie, and D. J. Clancy Water balance and cation levels in Drosophila: can early physiological decline predict aging and longevity? J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., February 1, 2006; 61(2): 146 - 152. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. J. Wolf, H. Amrein, J. A. Izatt, M. A. Choma, M. C. Reedy, and H. A. Rockman From The Cover: Drosophila as a model for the identification of genes causing adult human heart disease PNAS, January 31, 2006; 103(5): 1394 - 1399. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. G. Lakatta Heart Aging : A Fly in the Ointment? Circ. Res., May 25, 2001; 88(10): 984 - 986. [Full Text] [PDF]