Genetics and genomics of heart aging in Drosophila

Abstract

The genetic architecture of an organism strongly influences the aging process, including that of individual organs such as the heart, and our knowledge of the biology and genetics of this complex biological process is still very fragmentary. However, emerging evidence points to a remarkable conservation of the molecular pathways involved in aging. Drosophila, a highly tractable genetic system, has recently emerged as an attractive model of cardiac aging. In addition to developing to adulthood quickly, to have a relatively short life span, and to enable the analysis of large cohorts of individuals in tightly controlled environments, this is the only simple genetic model system with a fluid pumping heart whose performance declines with age. Recent progresses identified genetic influences during cardiac aging in the fly and revealed a wide degree of conservation with mammals at molecular and cellular levels. In particular, we conducted a functional genomics analysis of cardiac senescence that revealed signaling pathways as well as functional modules involved. Our current poject aims at a systematic identification of the genetic components of heart senescence to provide an holistic view of the genetic architecture of the process and a better understanding of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms.