Lin, C., Chang, Y.C., Cheng, Y.C., Lai, P.J., Yeh, C.H., Hsieh, W.H., Hu, K., Wu, J.T., Lee, H.H., Lo, M.T., Ho, Y.L. (2016). Probing the Fractal Pattern of Heartbeats in Drosophila Pupae by Visible Optical Recording System. Sci. Rep. 6(): 31950.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0233227
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
Judiciously tuning heart rates is critical for regular cardiovascular function. The fractal pattern of heartbeats - a multiscale regulation in instantaneous fluctuations - is well known for vertebrates. The most primitive heart system of the Drosophila provides a useful model to understand the evolutional origin of such a fractal pattern as well as the alterations of fractal pattern during diseased statuses. We developed a non-invasive visible optical heart rate recording system especially suitable for long-term recording by using principal component analysis (PCA) instead of fluorescence recording system to avoid the confounding effect from intense light irradiation. To deplete intracellular Ca(2+) levels, the expression of sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) was tissue-specifically knocked down. The SERCA group shows longer heart beat intervals (Mean ± SD: 1009.7 ± 151.6 ms) as compared to the control group (545.5 ± 45.4 ms, p < 0.001). The multiscale correlation of SERCA group (scaling exponent: 0.77 ± 0.07), on the other hand, is weaker than that of the control Drosophila (scaling exponent: 0.85 ± 0.03) (p = 0.016).
