Dr Neil Dufton
PhDLecturer in Inflammatory Sciences
The William Harvey Research Institute
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Endothelial to mesenchymal transition, Vascular biology, Endothelial heterogeneity, Liver fibrosis, NASH
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
2023

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

Gkantsinikoudi C, Rot A, Alazawi W, Dufton N
Journal of Hepatology, Elsevier vol. 78
01-06-2023

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

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

Whiteford J, Arokiasamy S, Thompson C, Alazawi W, Dufton N
Journal of Hepatology, Elsevier vol. 77
01-07-2022

Whiteford J, Arokiasamy S, Thompson CL, Dufton NP
In Vitro Models, Springer Nature vol. 1 (6), 413-421.
01-01-2022
2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beuerle MG, Dufton NP, Randi AM, Gould IR
Molecular Omics, Royal Society of Chemistry (Rsc) vol. 12 (12), 3600-3610.
01-01-2016
2015

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

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

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

Maderna P, Cottell DC, Toivonen T, Dufton N, Dalli J, Perretti M, Godson C
Faseb J vol. 24 (11), 4240-4249.
01-11-2010

Dufton N, Perretti M
Pharmacol Therapeut vol. 127 (2), 175-188.
01-08-2010

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

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

Dufton NP, Hannon R, Perretti M, Flower R
Inflammation Research, Springer Science and Business Media Llc vol. 58 (S2), S252-S255.
01-07-2009

Maione F, Paschalidis N, Mascolo N, Dufton N, Perretti M, Dacquisto F
Biochem Pharmacol vol. 77 (5), 878-887.
01-03-2009
Grants

Neil Dufton, William Alazawi and Antal Rot
£610,383 MRC Medical Research Council
08-05-2024 - 07-05-2027

Neil Dufton
£41,859 Royal Society
01-03-2024 - 31-08-2025

Neil Dufton and William Alazawi
£35,000 Barts and the London Charity
02-03-2020 - 30-04-2022