Fig. 5.

Over-expression of SPARC causes cardiomyopathy and increased Pericardin deposition.

(A) M-modes showing the impact of SPARC over-expression on heart function at one week of age (from videos captured at 25 frames per second). (B) The percentage of hearts that were arrhythmic in controls (‘C’, the UAS-SPARC parent line outcrossed to w¹¹¹⁸) versus SPARC overexpression flies (driven by the Dorothy enhancer; ‘UAS-SPARC’); n = 7–10 flies for each genotype. (C) Mean heart rate (± SEM) for the control and SPARC over-expression flies at one week. n = 7 flies for each genotype; *P < 0.01. (D) Confocal micrographs of adult 1 week old hearts stained with wheat germ agglutinin (red, to highlight cell surfaces) and antibodies to Pericardin (cyan); scale bar = 100 μm. (E) Higher magnification of hearts stained with WGA and Pericardin antibodies; scale bar = 50 μm. (F) Percentage coverage of heart staining positive for Pericardin (mean, ± SEM); n = 5; *P < 0.01.