Dr Neil Dufton

Neil Dufton
PhD

Lecturer in Inflammatory Sciences

The William Harvey Research Institute
Queen Mary University of London
ORCID X

Research

Endothelial to mesenchymal transition, Vascular biology, Endothelial heterogeneity, Liver fibrosis, NASH

Cardiovascular Models, Infectious Disease and Inflammation Models

Interests

My lab is interested in determining the role of vascular heterogeneity in health and disease. During chronic fibrotic disease, such as heart failure and liver cirrhosis, vascular endothelial cells undergo drastic changes, disrupting tissue-specific vascular patterning and leading to vascular and tissue dysfunction. Our research has revealed that a process termed endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is a central mediator of the endothelial plasticity associated with fibrosis. We have successfully developed novel reporters that enable us to track and assess EndMT occurring in real-time. Using Liver-On-A-Chip platforms we have shown dynamic behaviours of EndMT cells for the first time in models of liver fibrosis and NASH-like microenvironments (Whiteford et al., 2022). We aim to apply our EndMT reporters to develop tissue and disease-specific Organ-On-A-Chip drug screening platforms that can identify new therapeutic approaches to reverse vascular dysfunction and fibrosis.

Publications

solid heart iconPublications of specific relevance to Predictive in vitro Models

2023

Cytokine-Mediated Degradation of the Transcription Factor ERG Impacts the Pulmonary Vascular Response to Systemic Inflammatory Challenge
Schafer CM, Martin-Almedina S, Kurylowicz K, Dufton N, Osuna-Almagro L, Wu M-L, Johnson CF, Shah AV et al.
Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, Wolters Kluwer vol. 43 (8), 1412-1428.  
15-06-2023
OS-043 Atypical Chemokine receptors regulate the induction of ‘disease-associated’ LSEC by modulating Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal transition (EndMT) during liver fibrosis
Gkantsinikoudi C, Rot A, Alazawi W, Dufton N
Journal of Hepatology, Elsevier vol. 78 
01-06-2023
Placental Inflammation Leads to Abnormal Embryonic Heart Development
Ward EJ, Bert S, Fanti S, Malone KM, Maughan RT, Gkantsinikoudi C, Prin F, Volpato LK et al.
Circulation, Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) vol. 147 (12), 956-972.  
21-03-2023

2022

Cooperative ETS transcription factors enforce adult endothelial cell fate and cardiovascular homeostasis
Gomez-Salinero JM, Itkin T, Houghton S, Badwe C, Lin Y, Kalna V, Dufton N, Peghaire CR et al.
Nature Cardiovascular Research, Springer Nature vol. 1 (10), 882-899.  
01-10-2022
FRI198 Investigating the function of Endothelial-To-Mesenchymal transition during liver fibrogenesis using a Liver-On-A-Chip platform
Whiteford J, Arokiasamy S, Thompson C, Alazawi W, Dufton N
Journal of Hepatology, Elsevier vol. 77 
01-07-2022
Novel application of live imaging to determine the functional cell biology of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) within a liver-on-a-chip platform
Whiteford J, Arokiasamy S, Thompson CL, Dufton NP
In Vitro Models, Springer Nature vol. 1 (6), 413-421.  
01-01-2022

2020

Author Correction: Dynamic regulation of canonical TGFβ signalling by endothelial transcription factor ERG protects from liver fibrogenesis
Dufton NP, Peghaire CR, Osuna-Almagro L, Raimondi C, Kalna V, Chauhan A, Webb G, Yang Y et al.
Nature Communications, Springer Science and Business Media Llc vol. 11 (1) 
05-03-2020

2019

The transcription factor ERG regulates a low shear stress-induced anti-thrombotic pathway in the microvasculature
Peghaire C, Dufton NP, Lang M, Salles-Crawley II, Ahnström J, Kalna V, Raimondi C, Pericleous C et al.
Nature Communications, Springer Science and Business Media Llc vol. 10 (1) 
01-11-2019
Neuropilin-1 Controls Endothelial Homeostasis by Regulating Mitochondrial Function and Iron-Dependent Oxidative Stress
Issitt T, Bosseboeuf E, De Winter N, Dufton N, Gestri G, Senatore V, Chikh A, Randi AM et al.
Iscience, Elsevier Bv vol. 11, 205-223.  
01-01-2019

2018

Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays
Nowak-Sliwinska P, Alitalo K, Allen E, Anisimov A, Aplin AC, Auerbach R, Augustin HG, Bates DO et al.
Angiogenesis vol. 21 (3), 425-532.  
10-07-2018

2017

Dynamic regulation of canonical TGFβ signalling by endothelial transcription factor ERG protects from liver fibrogenesis
Dufton NP, Peghaire CR, Osuna-Almagro L, Raimondi C, Kalna V, Chauhan A, Webb G, Yang Y et al.
Nature Communications, Springer Science and Business Media Llc vol. 8 (1) 
12-10-2017
Investigation of cardiac fibroblasts using myocardial slices
Perbellini F, Watson SA, Scigliano M, Alayoubi S, Tkach S, Bardi I, Quaife N, Kane C et al.
Cardiovascular Research, Oxford University Press (Oup) vol. 114 (1), 77-89.  
18-08-2017
The endothelial transcription factor ERG mediates Angiopoietin-1-dependent control of Notch signalling and vascular stability
Shah AV, Birdsey GM, Peghaire C, Pitulescu ME, Dufton NP, Yang Y, Weinberg I, Osuna Almagro L et al.
Nature Communications, Springer Nature vol. 8 (1) 
11-07-2017

2016

Molecular dynamics studies on the DNA-binding process of ERG
Beuerle MG, Dufton NP, Randi AM, Gould IR
Molecular Omics, Royal Society of Chemistry (Rsc) vol. 12 (12), 3600-3610.  
01-01-2016

2015

The Endothelial Transcription Factor ERG Promotes Vascular Stability and Growth through Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling
Birdsey GM, Shah AV, Dufton N, Reynolds LE, Almagro LO, Yang Y, Aspalter IM, Khan ST et al.
Developmental Cell, Elsevier vol. 32 (1), 82-96.  
01-01-2015

2012

Up-Regulation of Annexin-A1 and Lipoxin A4 in Individuals with Ulcerative Colitis May Promote Mucosal Homeostasis
Vong L, Ferraz JGP, Dufton N, Panaccione R, Beck PL, Sherman PM, Perretti M, Wallace JL
Plos One, Public Library of Science (Plos) vol. 7 (6), e39244-e39244.  
18-06-2012

2011

Anti-inflammatory role of the murine formyl-peptide receptor 2: ligand-specific effects on leukocyte responses and experimental inflammation (vol 184, pg 2611, 2010)
Dufton N, Hannon R, Brancaleone V, Dalli J, Patel HB, Gray M, D'Acquisto F, Buckingham JC et al.
J Immunol vol. 186 (4), 2684-2685.  
15-02-2011

2010

FPR2/ALX receptor expression and internalization are critical for lipoxin A(4) and annexin-derived peptide-stimulated phagocytosis
Maderna P, Cottell DC, Toivonen T, Dufton N, Dalli J, Perretti M, Godson C
Faseb J vol. 24 (11), 4240-4249.  
01-11-2010
Therapeutic anti-inflammatory potential of formyl-peptide receptor agonists
Dufton N, Perretti M
Pharmacol Therapeut vol. 127 (2), 175-188.  
01-08-2010
Anti-Inflammatory Role of the Murine Formyl-Peptide Receptor 2: Ligand-Specific Effects on Leukocyte Responses and Experimental Inflammation
Dufton N, Hannon R, Brancaleone V, Dalli J, Patel HB, Gray M, D'Acquisto F, Buckingham JC et al.
J Immunol vol. 184 (5), 2611-2619.  
01-03-2010
Anti-allergic drugs and the Annexin-A1 system.
Yazid S, Ayoub SS, Solito E, McArthur S, Vo P, Dufton N, Flower RJ
Pharmacol Rep vol. 62 (3), 511-517.  
01-01-2010

2009

Quantitative Analysis of Promoter Activity by Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) Target/Reporter Strategy in a Novel Transgenic alx/fpr-rs2 Null Mouse
Dufton NP, Hannon R, Perretti M, Flower R
Inflammation Research, Springer Science and Business Media Llc vol. 58 (S2), S252-S255.  
01-07-2009
Interleukin 17 sustains rather than induces inflammation
Maione F, Paschalidis N, Mascolo N, Dufton N, Perretti M, Dacquisto F
Biochem Pharmacol vol. 77 (5), 878-887.  
01-03-2009

Grants

solid heart iconGrants of specific relevance to Predictive in vitro Models
bullet iconAtypical Chemokine Receptors orchestrate changes in vascular patterning during fibrotic liver disease via Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition.
Neil Dufton, William Alazawi and Antal Rot
£610,383 MRC Medical Research Council
08-05-2024 - 07-05-2027


bullet iconRole of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in regulating immune cell recruitment during fibrosis
Neil Dufton
£41,859 Royal Society
01-03-2024 - 31-08-2025
bullet iconInvestigating the therapeutic potential of disease-associated endothelial cells in liver disease
Neil Dufton and William Alazawi
£35,000 Barts and the London Charity
02-03-2020 - 30-04-2022