# Polyploidy in Cardiac Development and Tissue Repair in Drosophila

> **NIH NIH F31** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $36,875

## Abstract

Abstract
Polyploidy (whole genome duplication) is a fundamental aspect of cardiac biology. Metazoan heart structures,
from insects to humans, undergo ploidy increases during development and in response to stress and injury.
Polyploidy has many functions, from increases in cell size (hypertrophy) and transcriptional capacity to protection
from infection and oxidative stress. However, the specific role of developmental or physiological polyploidy in
cardiac organogenesis, function, and injury response is unknown. Polyploidy is considered a possible barrier to
cardiac proliferation and therapeutic regeneration as ploidy increases coincide with the switch from proliferative
to ploidy-increasing hypertrophic tissue repair programs in mammalian development. Thus, by improving our
understanding of the significance and regulation of cardiac polyploidy, we can better devise strategies to improve
the function of injured hearts.
This proposal will develop the Drosophila heart as a model to uncover the conserved yet enigmatic role of
polyploidy in heart development and tissue repair. As in mammals, cardiomyocytes of the simple, tubular
Drosophila heart are known to polyploidize during development and the adult fly heart can undergo hypertrophy.
However, little is known about when Drosophila cardiac polyploidization occurs, its regulation and function, and
the interplay between physiological and injury-induced polyploidy. The polyploidization of fly cardiomyocytes will
be characterized and perturbed during development and after injury. In Aim 1, the timing and extent of
polyploidization during development will be determined. Then, polyploidization will be perturbed and heart
function assayed to uncover physiological roles in the heart. Lastly, the gene expression profiles of polyploid and
mutant diploid cardiomyocytes will be compared to determine polyploidization-induced genes. In Aim 2, the
effect of ploidy on tissue injury responses will be studied. Injury before and after cardiac polyploidization will
determine if a developmental switch occurs between proliferative and hypertrophic tissue repair programs. To
accomplish this Aim, cardiomyocytes will be genetically ablated and resulting cardiomyocyte proliferation and
hypertrophy measured using cell counts and cell cycle markers. Next, ablation experiments will be conducted in
mutant diploid and precociously polyploid cardiomyocytes to examine the effect of polyploidy on tissue injury
repair. Finally, gene expression changes at a temporal switch in tissue injury repair responses will be compared
to find regulators of distinct cardiac injury responses. The above proposed experiments will establish a
genetically tractable model with conserved features of cardiac development to uncover the long-appreciated but
poorly-understood role of polyploidy in cardiac biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9842331
- **Project number:** 5F31HL140811-03
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Nora Grace Peterson
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $36,875
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-01 → 2020-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9842331

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9842331, Polyploidy in Cardiac Development and Tissue Repair in Drosophila (5F31HL140811-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9842331. Licensed CC0.

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