Gaining Insights into Diabetic Cardiomyopathy from Drosophila

The high degree of genetic conservation between Drosophila melanogaster and mammals has helped to translate many important findings into new knowledge, and has led to better understanding of many biological processes in vertebrates. For over a century, the Drosophila model has been used in studies aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms implicated in heredity, development, disease progression, and aging. The current epidemic of obesity and associated diabetic cardiomyopathy and heart failure has led to a shift in Drosophila research towards understanding the basic mechanisms leading to metabolic syndrome and associated cardiac risk factors. We discuss recent findings in Drosophila that highlight the importance of this organism as an excellent model for studying the effects of metabolic imbalance on cardiac function.

TrendsMetabolic imbalance induced by a high caloric diet leads to obesity and lipotoxic cardiomyopathy in the Drosophila model.Because of its fundamentally conserved genetic and metabolic control pathways, the fruit fly constitutes a unique tool to elucidate mechanisms implicated in diabetic cardiomyopathy.Insulin/TOR signaling plays a central role in the development of lipotoxic cardiomyopathy. Conserved functions of AGTL/Bmm, PGC-1/Srl, SREBP, and FAS participate in mediating diet-induced cardiomyopathy downstream of TOR.As observed in mammals, the Drosophila heart can function as a metabolic regulatory organ to control systemic lipid metabolism.