Wilson, Heather - University of Aberdeen - School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

个人简介

I graduated with a first class honours degree in Biochemistry in 1987 and was awarded a Carnegie prize scholarship to fund my PhD investigating the role of high density lipoprotein subspecies in relation to coronary heart disease (awarded 1990). My early postdoctoral years focussed on factors mediating the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and progression of glomerulonephritis to end stage renal disease. I was awarded MRC, Kidney Research UK and British Heart Foundation funding to continue my postdoctoral studies at Aberdeen University on the effects of macrophage inflammatory mediators on controlling glomerular extracellular matrix turnover and how increased deposition and/or decreased protease degradation resulted in renal scarring. A further MRC funded project focussed my research interests to the earlier inflammatory stage of nephritis and the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling glomerular inflammation, focussing on the role of macrophages in experimental models. My current research is primarily directed towards understanding the signalling pathways that control macrophage activation, especially in nephritis and atherosclerosis. I was appointed to lecturer in 2008. I was elected to the Renal Association, Renal Scientists Working Party Committee in 2006 and Education and Training Committee in 2011. I am an active member of the British Society of Immunology and Biochemical Society. I teach on BSc, MSc and MBChB courses and co-ordinate aspects of these courses.

研究领域

My research interests are directed towards a better understanding of the role of macrophages in controlling the pathogenesis of inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. I have focussed primarily on the factors that polarise macrophages to pro- or anti-inflammatory subsets and the ways in which differentially activated macrophage subsets regulate tissue injury or tissue repair, especially in rodent models of nephritis and human atherosclerosis. The aim is to be able to control immune and inflammatory mediated diseases by manipulating macrophage function. For this I am dissecting the role of the intracellular signalling pathways that direct macrophage activation, and how these pathways can be switched to exploit macrophage reparative attributes and restore regulation to the inflammatory response. I have developed a multitude of techniques to efficiently isolate glomerular macrophages and analyse their intracellular signalling pathways and using these have, for example, demonstrated that inhibiting the pro-inflammatory transcription factor, NFκB, induces macrophages to become profoundly anti-inflammatory when exposed an inflamed environment (Wilson et al. Am J Path 2005).

近期论文

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Gordon, P., Okai, B., Hoare, JI., Erwig, LP. & Wilson, HM. (2016). 'SOCS3 is a modulator of human macrophage phagocytosis'. Journal of Leukocyte Biology, vol 100, no. 4, pp. 771-780. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.1189/JLB.3A1215-554RR [ONLINE] AURA: J_LEUKOC_BIOL_2016_GORDON_771_80.PDF Wirrig, C., McKean, JS., Wilson, HM. & Nixon, GF. (2016). 'Sphingosylphosphorylcholine inhibits macrophage adhesion to vascular smooth muscle cells'. Biochemical Pharmacology, vol 115, pp. 43-50. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.1016/J.BCP.2016.07.004 Grant, L., Lees, EK., Forney, LA., Mody, N., Gettys, T., Brown, PAJ., Wilson, HM. & Delibegovic, M. (2016). 'Methionine restriction improves renal insulin signalling in aged kidneys'. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, vol 157, pp. 35-43. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.1016/J.MAD.2016.07.003 Hoare, JI., Rajnicek, AM., McCaig, CD., Barker, RN. & Wilson, HM. (2016). 'Electric fields are novel determinants of human macrophage functions'. Journal of Leukocyte Biology, vol 99, no. 6, pp. 1141-1151. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.1189/JLB.3A0815-390R Arnold, CE., Barker, RN. & Wilson, HM. (2016). 'Critical Role for Inflammatory Macrophages in Driving Antigen-dependent Th17 Cell Responses?'. Journal of Cytokine Biology, vol 1, no. 1, 105, pp. 1-3. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.4172/JCB.1000105 [ONLINE] AURA: CRITICAL_ROLE_FOR_INFLAMMATORY_MACROPHAGES_IN_DRIVING_ANTIGE... Arnold, CE., Gordon, P., Barker, RN. & Wilson, HM. (2015). 'The activation status of human macrophages presenting antigen determines the efficiency of Th17 responses'. Immunobiology, vol 220, no. 1, pp. 10-19. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.1016/J.IMBIO.2014.09.022 [ONLINE] AURA: IMMUNOBIOLOGY.PDF Wilson, HM. (2014). 'SOCS Proteins in Macrophage Polarization and Function'. Frontiers in Immunology, vol 5, 357. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.3389/FIMMU.2014.00357 [ONLINE] AURA: FIMMU_05_00357.PDF Shaikh, S., Welch, A., Ramalingam, SL., Murray, A., Wilson, HM., McKiddie, F. & Brittenden, J. (2014). 'Comparison of fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in symptomatic carotid artery and stable femoral artery plaques'. British Journal of Surgery, vol 101, no. 3, pp. 363-370. DOI:[ONLINE] DOI: 10.1002/BJS.9403 Grant, L., Shearer, KD., Czopek, A., Lees, EK., Owen, C., Agouni, A., Workman, J., Martin-Granados, C., Forrester, JV., Wilson, HM., Mody, N. & Delibegovic, M. (2014). 'Myeloid-Cell Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase-1B Deficiency in Mice Protects Against High-Fat Diet and Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation, Hyperinsulinemia, and Endotoxemia Through an IL-10 STAT3-Dependent Mechanism'. Diabetes, vol 63, no. 2, pp. 456-470. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.2337/DB13-0885 [ONLINE] AURA: LYSM_PTP1B_KO_DIABETES_2014_GRANT_456_70.PDF Arnold, CE., Whyte, CS., Gordon, P., Barker, RN., Rees, AJ. & Wilson, HM. (2014). 'A critical role for suppressor of cytokine signalling 3 in promoting M1 macrophage activation and function in vitro and in vivo'. Immunology, vol 141, no. 1, pp. 96-110. DOI: [ONLINE] DOI: 10.1111/IMM.12173 [ONLINE] AURA: ARNOLD_ET_AL_2014_IMMUNOLOGY.PDF