Henry G. Wilcox, Ph.D.
Professor

Room 204 Crowe Research Building
(901) 448-5825
hwilcox@utmem.edu

Education:

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL B.S 1955 Chemistry
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL M.S. 1961 Chemistry/Biochemistry
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Ph.D. 1964 Biochemistry

Research Interests:

       Research is presently oriented toward the examination, primarily inprimary rat hepatocytes and the isolated perfused rat liver, of the regulatoryinfluences of insulin and other hormones on apoliporpteoin synthesis andsecretion, particularly apoB, the structural protein whose synthesis isrequired in the transport of triacylglycerol in very low density lipoproteins.Studies of two rat models of hyperinsulinemia and hyperlipidemia, the JCRcorpulent and the Zucker fatty rat, complement the investigations of insulinresistance in the liver. The known enhancement of hepatic lipogenesis (fattyacid synthesis) by insulin provides the foundation for studies aimed atdelineating the signaling mechanisms leading to the induction of enzymesinvolved in lipogenesis, i.e. fatty acid synthase and acetylCoA carboxylase.

Selected Publications:

Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing and apolipoprotein gene expression in liver of the hyperinsulinemic fatty Zucker rat: Relationship to VLDL composition. Elam, M.B., von Wronski, M.A., Cagen, L.M., Kumar, P., Throngate, F.E., Heimberg, M. and Wilcox, H.G. Lipids 34:309-314 (1999)

Insulin increases expression of apobec-1, the catalytic subunit of the apoliporottein B mRNA editing complex in rat hepatocytes. von Wronski, M.A., Hirano, K-I., Cagen, L.M., Wilcox, H.G., Raghow, R., Thorngate, F.E., Heimberg, M., Davidson, N.O. and Elam, M.B. Metabolism 47: 869-873 (1998)

Laboratory Roster

Technician: Poonam Kumar
Postdoctoral Fellow: Xiang Deng, Ph.D.