Dr Neil Hime
Position
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education/Employment
| 1989-1991 | University of Adelaide (BSc) |
| 1992 | CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition; University of Adelaide, Dept of Physical and Experiment Pharmacology (BSc (Hons)) |
| 1993-1997 | Research Assistant, The Hanson Institute, Adelaide, Lipid Research Laboratory |
| 1998-2000 | University of Adelaide, Dept of Medicine (PhD); Research Assistant, The Hanson Institute, Adelaide, Lipid Research Laboratory |
| 2001-2002 | Research Officer, The Hanson Institute, Adelaide, Lipid Research Laboratory; Visiting Academic, The University of Melbourne, Dept of Biochemistry |
| 2003-2004 | Seniour Research Officer, The Heart Research Institute, Sydney, Lipid Research Group |
| 2004-2007 | Postdoctoral Fellow, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA, Dept of Immunology |
| 2007- | Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Sydney, Centre for Vascular Research |
Research interests
Cholesterol metabolism and antioxidants in atherosclerotic disease and diabetes
Skills
Small animal handling
Quantification of atherosclerosis in animal models
Diabetic animal models and assessment of glucose metabolism
Cell culture of bone marrow-derived macrophages
Confocal microscopy
Ultracentrifugational isolation of plasma lipoproteins
Plasma protein isolation and purification
Collaborators
- Professor David James, Garvan Institute, Sydney Australia
Project: The effect of antioxidant drugs on diabetes and insulin resistance and the role of heme-oxygenase-1
Diabetes is characterized by an inability of the body to regulate glucose metabolism. This can be the result of poor secretion of insulin from endocrine cells in the pancreas and/or the inability of tissues to utilize insulin and take up glucose from the blood (insulin resistance). Type 1 diabetes is associated with the former whereas type 2 diabetes is associated with insulin resistance that if left unchecked results in decreased pancreatic insulin secretion.
Probucol is an old antioxidant drug that lowers blood cholesterol and has been used as an anti-atherosclerotic agent but is no longer used clinically in Australia. Probucol has been shown to improve the ability of the pancreas to secret insulin. A derivative of probucol, AGI-1067, has been shown in a large human clinical trial to delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. We are examining the ability of these drugs, and other related compounds, to inhibit type 1 and type 2 diabetes in animal models of these diseases. Our laboratory has previously shown that the anti-oxidant enzyme, heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1), is the molecular target for probucols' anti-atherosclerotic effects (J Exp Med 2006;203:1117-1127). We are endeavouring to determine whether the anti-diabetic actions of probucol and related compounds are also mediated via induction of HO-1.
These studies will identify which anti-oxidant compound(s) is favourable to test in clinical trials as diabetic therapy.
- Tanous D, Hime NJ, Stocker R. Anti-atherosclerotic and anti-diabetic properties of probucol and related compounds. Redox Report 2008;13:48-59.
- Hime NJ, Black AS, Bulgrien JJ, Curtiss LK. Leukocyte-derived hepatic lipase increases HDL and decreases en face aortic atherosclerosis in LDLr-/- mice expressing CETP. J Lipid Res 2008;49:2113-2123.
- Cutri BA, Hime NJ, Nicholls SJ. High-density lipoproteins: an emerging target in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Cell Res 2006;16:1-10.
- Curtiss LK, Valenta DT, Hime NJ, Rye KA. What is so special about apolipoprotein AI in reverse cholesterol transport? Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2006;26:12-19.
- Hime NJ, Drew KJ, Wee K, Barter PJ, Rye KA. Formation of high density lipoproteins containing both apolipoprotein A-I and A-II in the rabbit. J Lipid Res 2006;47:115-122.
