Dr. Heather L Wilson BSc DPhil

Lecturer

Department of Cardiovascular Science
University of Sheffield
Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX
Telephone: +44 (0)114 226 1115
Fax: +44 (0)114 271 1863
Email: h.l.wilson@sheffield.ac.uk

Biography:

My research background has centred around a curiosity driven interest in cell signalling. This has taken me into research projects on calcium signalling (D.Phil., Univ. of Oxford) and P2X receptor-gated ion channels (post-doctoral research post, Biomedical Science, Univ. of Sheffield) to identifying P2X7 receptor interacting proteins involved in the secretion of the cytokine, interleukin-1beta that drives inflammation.

I am currently a new lecturer within the Department of Cardiovascular Science, directing my research programme into the cell biology of inflammation, and linking this to understanding diseases such as atherosclerosis.

Research Interests:

My main research interest is in the cellular mechanisms contributing to inflammation, with particular emphasis on their role in cardiovascular disease and immune cell responses. We have studied the role of the P2X7 receptor in mediating release of the leaderless cytokines, IL-1beta and IL-1ra from monocytes, macrophages and endothelial cells, via microvesicle shedding.

Teaching Interests:

I am leader of the “Vascular Cell Biology” module MED6050, and teach in this and other modules within the Cardiovascular Pathway of the MSc in Molecular Medicine course. I am a tutor to MSc students providing both Personal Development tutoring as well as supporting taught courses. I am Personal Academic Tutor to a cohort of Phase 1 medical students, and am Cluster leader to BMedSci Medical students. I supervise PhD students, BMedSci students, MSc students in their full-time 5-month laboratory research projects and a Clinical training fellow under my principle investigator role.

Professional Activities:

• Journal reviewer.
• Member of the British Atherosclerosis Society.
• Co-organiser of Joint Sheffield-Manchester IL-1 Group.

Current Projects:

• British Heart Foundation. Control of inflammation by Epithelial Membrane Protein-2: a potential vascular disease regulator.
• Medical Research Council. Reporter models of IL-1 secretion and targeting.
• Knowledge-Transfer funding to investigate targeting IL-1beta secretion in disease.
• Heart Research UK. Neutrophil delivery of IL-1 as a mechanism of MI risk after lung infection
• A*Star Studentship. Contribution of blood immune cell subtypes in inflammatory function and the development of cardiovascular disease.

Key Publications:

1. Jon R. Ward, Peter W. West, Mark P. Ariaans, Lisa C. Parker, Sheila E. Francis, David C. Crossman, Ian Sabroe and Heather L. Wilson (2010). Temporal IL-1beta secretion from primary human peripheral blood monocytes by P2X7-independent and P2X7-dependent mechanisms. Journal of Biological Chemistry, May 21 285: 23147-58.


2. J. R. Ward, H. L. Wilson, S. E. Francis, D. C. Crossman and I. Sabroe (2009). Translational Mini-Review Series on Immunology of Vascular Disease: Inflammation, infections and Toll-like receptors in cardiovascular disease. Clin. Exp. Immunol. 156: 386-94.


3. Heather L. Wilson, Richard W. Varcoe, Leanne Stokes, Karen L. Holland, Sheila E. Francis, Steven K. Dower, Annmarie Surprenant, David C. Crossman (2007). P2X Receptor Characterisation and IL-1/IL-1Ra Release from Human Endothelial Cells. British J. Pharmacol. 151:115-27.


4. Iona Evans, Steven K. Dower, Sheila E. Francis, David C. Crossman, and Heather L. Wilson (2006). Action of intracellular IL-1Ra (Type 1) is independent of the IL-1 intracellular signaling pathway. Cytokine. 33: 274-80.


5. Heather L. Wilson, Sheila E. Francis, Steven K. Dower and David C. Crossman (2004) Secretion of intracellular IL-1 receptor antagonist (type 1) is dependent on P2X7 receptor activation. J. Immunol. 173:1202-8.


6. Xeunong Bo, Linhua Jiang, Heather L. Wilson, Miran Kim, Geoffrey Burnstock, Annmarie Surprenant, and R. Alan North. (2003) Pharmacological and biophysical properties of the human P2X5 receptor. Molecular Pharmacology 63:1407-16.


7. Heather L. Wilson, Stuart A. Wilson, Annmarie Surprenant and R. Alan North (2002) Epithelial Membrane Proteins Induce Membrane Blebbing and Interact with the P2X7 Receptor C Terminus. Journal of Biological Chemistry 277:34017-23.


8. Amanda MacKenzie, Heather L. Wilson, Endre Kiss-Toth, Steven K. Dower, R. Alan North and Annmarie Surprenant (2001). Rapid secretion of interleukin-1beta by microvesicle shedding. Immunity 15:825-35.

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