27 November 2009

New Zealand and Singapore invest over NZ$1.3 million in metabolic disease research

More than NZ$1.3 million has been awarded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR, Singapore) to support research into metabolic disease through a joint research initiative. The initiative supports applicants to engage in research activities that will produce gains for New Zealand and Singapore, and offer significant leverage to build New Zealand’s health research capacity.

The joint fund was open to proposals from New Zealand and Singapore-based public research organizations, including universities and institutes supported by the HRC and A*STAR. In New Zealand, the fund was also open to companies doing research including Crown Research Institutes, research associations and private companies.

The partnership is the first of its kind and is part of the HRC’s work on the International Investment Opportunities Fund (IIOF) Objective 2, which is focused on the development of international funding partnerships with other countries to facilitate research programs of joint interest.
Details of funding offered to the research team in the HRC/A*STAR joint initiative are as follows:

Understanding the relative roles of PIKfyve and PI 3-kinase isoforms in the regulation of metabolism
Principal Investigators: Professor Peter Shepherd (University of Auckland) and Dr Weiping Han (A*STAR)

Project summary: PI 3-kinase is an enzyme that plays a crucial role in regulating a range of cell signalling pathways. It has recently been found that this enzyme, particularly an isoform called p110alpha, is hyperactivated in many forms of cancer. This has generated intense efforts to develop PI 3-kinase inhibitors as anticancer drugs and the New Zealand based investigators have an HRC funded project grant to develop such inhibitors. However, previous evidence indicates that such drugs could block insulin action and thus cause major metabolic disturbances. However, recent in vitro evidence from the New Zealand group indicates that an enzyme called PIKfyve may be more important for pathways regulating metabolism than PI 3-kinase itself. The current studies will use the combined skills of the New Zealand and Singapore groups to analyse the effects of a drug targeting PIKfyve and several drugs targeting PI 3-kinase on glucose metabolism. This will focus on the in vivo effects of these drugs on insulin action and on insulin production and secretion. This collaboration follows from a recent successful collaboration between these two groups to study the effects of anti-psychotic drugs on glucose metabolism. These studies will provide important evidence to define whether PIKfyve or PI 3-kinase isoforms are key regulators of processes regulating glucose metabolism in vivo.

Have metabolic genes been altered in children born of low birth weight?
Principal Investigators: Professor Wayne Cutfield (University of Auckland) and Associate Professor Yap Seng Chong (National University of Singapore)

Project summary: Children born prematurely have insulin resistance, an abnormality in the way in which insulin works. This is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Adults born prematurely have persisting insulin resistance and increased abdominal fat, additive risk factors for type 2 diabetes. In 120 infants born prematurely, compared to 120 infants born at term, we will examine in the first six months of life whether there are changes in the function of genes that control body fat and insulin. Infants will be recruited at 2 hospitals in Singapore, as an extension of an existing study called GUSTO which includes recruitment of 1,200 infants. The gene analyses will be conducted in the Liggins Institute in New Zealand. Identification of changes in genes that increase the risk of diabetes will guide changes in neonatal care in these and future infants and will minimise the long term risks of obesity and diabetes.

Outcome in patients with heart failure with a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction; the PEOPLE Study
Principal Investigators: Associate Professor Rob Doughty (University of Auckland) and Dr Carolyn S.P. Lam (National University of Singapore)

Project summary: Heart failure is a common condition with high rates of hospitalisation and death. Most clinical trials have focused on patients with poor heart pump function. However, the heart pump function may be normal among a significant subset of patients with heart failure. Currently, there is uncertainty regarding which patients with heart failure with normal pump function will be at risk of dying or being readmitted to hospital. The objectives of this study are to determine which of these patients will be at risk of these events. The study will recruit patients with heart failure in New Zealand and Singapore over 18 months. The patients will then be followed for 2 years. The study results will impact on the clinical management of patients with heart failure in New Zealand and Singapore and will lead to the development of clinical trials to test newer treatments for patients with heart failure.

ENDS