Garry P. Duffy's research while affiliated with Galway University Hospitals and other places
What is this page?
This page lists the scientific contributions of an author, who either does not have a ResearchGate profile, or has not yet added these contributions to their profile.
It was automatically created by ResearchGate to create a record of this author's body of work. We create such pages to advance our goal of creating and maintaining the most comprehensive scientific repository possible. In doing so, we process publicly available (personal) data relating to the author as a member of the scientific community.
If you're a ResearchGate member, you can follow this page to keep up with this author's work.
If you are this author, and you don't want us to display this page anymore, please let us know.
It was automatically created by ResearchGate to create a record of this author's body of work. We create such pages to advance our goal of creating and maintaining the most comprehensive scientific repository possible. In doing so, we process publicly available (personal) data relating to the author as a member of the scientific community.
If you're a ResearchGate member, you can follow this page to keep up with this author's work.
If you are this author, and you don't want us to display this page anymore, please let us know.
Publications (143)
Fibrosis is a consequence of the pathological remodeling of extracellular matrix (ECM) structures in the connective tissue of an organ. It is often caused by chronic inflammation, which over time, progressively leads to an excess deposition of collagen type I (COL I) that replaces healthy tissue structures, in many cases leaving a stiff scar. Incre...
Transplantation of islets of Langerhans is a promising alternative treatment strategy in severe cases of type 1 diabetes mellitus; however, the success rate is limited by the survival rate of the cells post-transplantation. Restoration of the native pancreatic niche during transplantation potentially can help to improve cell viability and function....
Analysing the composition and organisation of the fibrous capsule formed as a result of the Foreign Body Response (FBR) to medical devices, is imperative for medical device improvement and biocompatibility. Typically, analysis is performed using histological techniques which often involve random sampling strategies. This method is excellent for acq...
Epicardial delivery of human follistatin-like 1 protein (FSTL1) induces significant cardiac benefit following a myocardial infarction (MI). However, the optimal dosing regimen for maximal therapeutic benefit has not yet been elucidated. To investigate the impact of multiple FSTL1 doses, without the confounding effects of multiple surgical procedure...
Foreign body response (FBR) is a major challenge that affects implantable biosensors and medical devices, including glucose biosensors, leading to a deterioration in device response over time. Polymer shields are often used to mitigate this issue. Zwitterionic polymers (ZPs) are a promising class of materials that reduce biofouling of implanted dev...
Cell transplantation aims to regenerate damaged tissues and cure currently incurable diseases, such as Type 1 diabetes. Post‐transplantation cell survival is highly limited by the lack of suitable support matrix (anoikis) and insufficient oxygen supply (hypoxia), which is aggravated when using macroencapsulation devices. Graft failure can be overco...
Fibrous capsule (FC) formation, secondary to the foreign body response (FBR), impedes molecular transport and is detrimental to the long-term efficacy of implantable drug delivery devices, especially when tunable, temporal control is necessary. We report the development of an implantable mechanotherapeutic drug delivery platform to mitigate and ove...
Diabetes Mellitus refers to a group of metabolic disorders which affect how the body uses glucose impacting approximately 9% of the population worldwide. This review covers the most recent technological advances envisioned to control and/or reverse Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), many of which will also prove effective in treating the other forms...
Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) occur in approximately 40% of individuals with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease and are indicative of critical limb ischaemia. Currently, few medical devices can effectively treat CTOs long‐term, with amputation often required. This is due to a lack of knowledge of CTO anatomy, making device design and testing...
Macroencapsulation systems have been developed to improve islet cell transplantation but can induce a foreign body response (FBR). The development of neovascularization adjacent to the device is vital for the survival of encapsulated islets and is a limitation for long-term device success. Previously we developed additive manufactured multi-scale p...
Delivering a clinically impactful cell number is a major design challenge for cell macroencapsulation devices for Type 1 diabetes. It is important to understand the transplant site anatomy to design a device that is practical and that can achieve a sufficient cell dose. We identify the posterior rectus sheath plane as a potential implant site as it...
Synthetic and naturally occurring nano-sized particles present versatile vehicles for the delivery of therapy in a range of clinical settings. Their small size and modifiable physicochemical properties support refinement of targeting capabilities, immune response, and therapeutic cargo, but rapid clearance from the body and limited efficacy remain...
A reduction in blood supply to any limb causes ischaemia, pain and morbidity. Critical limb ischaemia is the most serious presentation of peripheral vascular disease. One in five patients with critical limb ischaemia will die within six months of diagnosis and one in three will require amputation in this time. Improving blood flow to the limb, via...
Advancements in type 1 diabetes mellitus treatments have vastly improved in recent years. The move towards a bioartificial pancreas and other fully implantable systems could help restore patient's glycaemic control. However, the long-term success of implantable medical devices is often hindered by the foreign body response. Fibrous encapsulation 'w...
Stem cell derived insulin producing cells or islets have shown promise in reversing Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), yet successful transplantation currently necessitates long-term modulation with immunosuppressant drugs. An alternative approach to avoiding this immune response is to utilize an islet macroencapsulation device, where islets are incorporated i...
Characterized by a rapidly increasing prevalence, elevated mortality and rehospitalization rates, and inadequacy of pharmaceutical therapies, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has motivated the widespread development of device-based solutions. HFpEF is a multifactorial disease of various etiologies and phenotypes, distinguished...
Cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide with 18.1 million deaths per year. Although there have been significant advances in anti-cancer therapies, they can often result in side effects with cardiovascular complications being the most severe. Dexrazoxane is the only currently approved treatment for prevention of anthracycline induced...
In article number 2100229 by Eoin O'Cearbhaill, Garry Duffy and co-workers, the “liquid rope coil effect” is harnessed to produce porous silicone coatings that are additively manufactured onto the surface of soft-tissue implants, aiming to address notorious challenges of long-term tissue integration and fibrosis associated with these implants. In v...
Medical devices, such as silicone‐based prostheses designed for soft tissue implantation, often induce a suboptimal foreign‐body response which results in a hardened avascular fibrotic capsule around the device, often leading to patient discomfort or implant failure. Here, it is proposed that additive manufacturing techniques can be used to deposit...
Heart failure has a five-year mortality rate approaching 50%. Inducing angiogenesis following a myocardial infarction is hypothesized to reduce cardiomyocyte death and tissue damage, thereby preventing heart failure. Herein, a novel nano-in-gel delivery system for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), composed of star-shaped polyglutamic acid-...
Ischemia impacts multiple organ systems and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Ischemia disrupts tissue homeostasis, driving cell death, and damages tissue structure integrity. Strategies to heal organs, like the infarcted heart, or to replace cells, as done in pancreatic islet β‐cell transplantations, are often h...
In article number 2002500 by Katja Schenke‐Layland and co‐workers, the basement membrane protein Nidogen‐1 is shown to promote tissue survival and regeneration in ischemic conditions. Once thought as a simple linker protein, Nidogen‐1 increases heart function and decreases scaring in a myocardial infarction model, rescues pancreatic beta‐cell funct...
Cancer therapies have significantly improved cancer survival; however, these therapies can often result in undesired side effects to off target organs. Cardiac disease ranging from mild hypertension to heart failure can occur as a result of cancer therapies. This can warrant the discontinuation of cancer treatment in patients which can be detriment...
The use of biomaterials and biomaterial functionalization is a promising approach to support pancreatic islet viability posttransplantation in an effort to reduce insulin dependence for patients afflicted with diabetes mellitus type 1. Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are known to impact numerous reparative functions in the body. Assessing how e...
Pancreatic islet isolation from donor pancreases is an essential step for the transplantation of insulin‐secreting β‐cells as a therapy to treat type 1 diabetes mellitus. This process however damages islet basement membranes, which can lead to islet dysfunction or death. Posttransplantation, islets are further stressed by a hypoxic environment and...
Background:
Quantitative methods for evaluating microstructure of arterial specimens typically rely on histologic techniques that involve random sampling, which cannot account for the unique spatial distribution of features in three dimensions.
Methods:
To overcome this limitation, we demonstrate a nondestructive method for three-dimensional ima...
Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy with a global five‐year survival rate of 30–50%. First‐line treatment involves cytoreductive surgery and administration of platinum‐based small molecules and paclitaxel. These therapies are traditionally administered via intravenous infusion, although intraperitoneal delivery has also been...
Stromal-Derived Factor 1α (SDF) is an angiogenic, chemotactic protein with significant potential for applications in a range of clinical areas, including wound healing, myocardial infarction and orthopaedic regenerative approaches. The 26-min in vivo half-life of SDF, however, has limited its clinical translation to date. In this study, we investig...
In article number 2000305 by Ellen T. Roche, Eimear B. Dolan, and co‐workers, a new regenerative reservoir platform (Regenervoir) is described for use in large animal models that are easily translated to human studies, with relevance to cardiac, abdominal, and soft tissue pathologies. Regenervoir incorporates multiple novel design features essentia...
Over 463 million people are living with diabetes mellitus (DM). Type 1 DM results from an autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells and accounts for 5-10% of cases. Macroencapsulation devices are a promising therapy for the treatment of T1DM as they improve insulin producing cell retention and viability. However they have had limited success due...
Islet encapsulation devices can induce a Foreign Body Response (FBR) and the formation of a dense avascular fibrotic capsule. This FBR is heightened when the device has a smooth surface as fibrous tissue is unable to adhere, instigating a substantial immunological reaction, islet death and ultimately implant failure. In this study, we examine wheth...
microRNAs offer vast therapeutic potential for multiple disciplines. From a bone perspective, inhibition of miR-133a may offer potential to enhance Runx2 activity and increase bone repair. This study aims to assess the therapeutic capability of antagomiR-133a delivery from collagen-nanohydroxyapatite (coll-nHA) scaffolds following cell-free implant...
Regenerative medicine approaches, specifically stem cell technologies, have demonstrated significant potential to treat a diverse array of pathologies. However, such approaches have resulted in a modest clinical benefit, which may be attributed to poor cell retention/survival at the disease site. A delivery system that facilitates regional and repe...
The incorporation of the RGD peptide (arginine-glycine-aspartate) into biomaterials has been proposed to promote cell adhesion to the matrix, which can influence and control cell behaviour and function. While many studies have utilised RGD modified biomaterials for cell delivery, few have examined its effect under the condition of reduced oxygen an...
The use of biomaterials for cardiac applications ranges from materials used in traditional medical devices such as pacemakers and implanted cardioverter defibrillators, to the use of polymeric hydrogels and nanoparticles for drug and cell delivery as part of novel tissue engineering strategies. One of the most essential requirements of a biomateria...
Aim: Cell repopulation of tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) from decellularized arterial scaffolds is limited by dense concentric tunica media layers which impede cells migrating radially between the layers. We aimed to develop and validate a new microneedle device to modify decellularized carotid arteries with radial microchannels to enhan...
The 5-year mortality rate for heart failure borders on 50%. The main cause is an ischaemic cardiac event where blood supply to the tissue is lost and cell death occurs. Over time, this damage spreads and the heart is no longer able to pump efficiently. Increasing vascularisation of the affected area has been shown to reduce patient symptoms. The gr...
Beta (β)-cell functionality and survival are highly dependent on the cells' microenvironment and cell-cell interaction. Since the pancreas is highly a vascularized organ, the crosstalk between β-cells and endothelial cells (ECs) is vital to ensure proper function. To understand the interaction of pancreatic beta (β)-cells with vascular ECs, we soug...
Pancreatic islet transplantation is a promising advanced therapy that has been used to treat patients suffering from diabetes type 1. Traditionally, pancreatic islets are infused via the portal vein which are subsequently intended to engraft in the liver. Severe immunosuppressive treatments are necessary, however, to prevent rejection of the transp...
The performance of indwelling medical devices that depend on an interface with soft tissue is plagued by complex, unpredictable foreign body responses. Such devices—including breast implants, biosensors, and drug delivery devices—are often subject to a collection of biological host responses, including fibrosis, which can impair device functionalit...
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the major regulating factor for the formation of new blood vessels, also known as angiogenesis. VEGF is often incorporated in synthetic scaffolds to promote vascularization and to enhance the survival of cells that have been seeded in these devices. Such applications require sustained local delivery of V...
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the formulation of a synthetic IGF-1 (pIGF-1) in PLGA microparticles (MP).
Methods: Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) MPs loaded with pIGF-1 were prepared, characterised and evaluated using double emulsion solvent evaporation method.
Results: Spherical MPs showed an average particle size of 2 µm, encap...
The increasing prevalence of diabetes, its heterogeneity, and the limited number of treatment options drive the need for physiologically relevant assay platforms with human genetic background that have the potential to improve mechanistic understanding and e\xpedite diabetes-related research and treatment. In this study, we developed an endocrine p...
The limited regenerative capacity of the heart after a myocardial infarct results in remodeling processes that can progress to congestive heart failure (CHF). Several strategies including mechanical stabilization of the weakened myocardium and regenerative approaches (specifically stem cell technologies)have evolved which aim to prevent CHF. Howeve...
The development of an effective and safe treatment for glioblastoma (GBM) represents a significant challenge in oncology today. Downregulation of key mediators of cell signal transduction by RNA interference is considered a promising treatment strategy but requires efficient, intracellular delivery of siRNA into GBM tumor cells. Here, we describe n...
As treatments for myocardial infarction (MI) continue to improve, the population of people suffering from heart failure (HF) is rising significantly. Novel treatment strategies aimed at achieving long-term functional stabilisation and improvement in heart function post MI include the delivery of biomaterial hydrogels and myocardial matrix-based the...
Glioblastoma (GBM), a highly invasive brain malignancy, remains an incurable disease. Angiogenesis, the formation of new vasculature, is a defining feature of this disease. Targeting GBM angiogenesis with Bevacizumab (Bev) is associated with improved progression free survival, but may also enhance tumour invasion into the surrounding parenchyma (No...
Injectable hydrogels that aim to mechanically stabilise the weakened left ventricle wall to restore cardiac function or to deliver stem cells in cardiac regenerative therapy have shown promising data. However, the clinical translation of hydrogel-based therapies has been limited due to difficulties injecting them through catheters. We have engineer...
Injectable hydrogels that aim to mechanically stabilise the weakened left ventricle wall to restore cardiac function or to deliver stem cells in cardiac regenerative therapy have shown promising data. However, the clinical translation of hydrogel-based therapies has been limited due to difficulties injecting them through catheters. We have engineer...
Current methods of breast reconstruction are associated with significant shortcomings, including capsular contracture, infection, rupture, the need for reoperation in implant‐based reconstruction, and donor site morbidity in autologous reconstruction. These limitations result in severe physical and psychological issues for breast cancer patients. R...
The clinical translation of regenerative therapy for the diseased heart, whether in the form of cells, macromolecules or small molecules, is hampered by several factors: the poor retention and short biological half-life of the therapeutic agent, the adverse side effects from systemic delivery, and difficulties with the administration of multiple do...
Efficient coupling of soft robotic cardiac assist devices to the external surface of the heart is crucial to augment cardiac function and represents a hurdle to translation of this technology. In this work, we compare various fixation strategies for local and global coupling of a direct cardiac compression sleeve to the heart. For basal fixation, w...
MicroRNA (miRNA) therapeutics are increasingly being developed to either target bone-related diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis or as the basis for novel bone tissue engineering strategies. A number of miRNAs have been reported as potential osteo-therapeutics but no consensus has yet been established on the optimal target. miR-16 has...
Polysaccharides meet several criteria for a suitable biomaterial for tissue engineering, which include biocompatibility and ability to support the delivery and growth of cells. Nevertheless, most of these polysaccharides, e.g. dextran, alginate, and glycosaminoglycans, are highly soluble in aqueous solutions. Hyaluronic acid hydrophobized by palmit...
Electrospinning is considered a relatively simple and versatile technique to form high porosity porous scaffolds with micron to nanoscale fibers for biomedical applications. Here, electrospinning of unsaturated aliphatic polyglobalide (PGl) into well-defined fibers with an average diameter of 9 μm is demonstrated. Addition of a dithiol cross-linker...
Peripheral nerve injury presents significant therapeutic challenges for recovery of motor and sensory function in patients. Different clinical approaches exist but to date there has been no consensus on the most effective method of treatment. Here, we investigate a novel approach to peripheral nerve repair using olfactory derived stem (ONS) cells d...
Supporting Information 2.
Supporting Information 1.
Supporting Information 3.
Supporting Information 4.
Islet transplantation for the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is hampered by the shortage of donor tissue and the need for life-long immunosuppression. The engineering of materials to limit host immune rejection opens the possibilities of utilising allogeneic and even xenogeneic cells without the need for systemic immunosuppression. Here we disc...
Cardiac Stem Cells (CSCs) represent a logical cell type to exploit as a regenerative treatment option for tissue damage accrued as a result of a myocardial infarction (MI). However, the isolation and expansion of CSCs prior to cell transplantation is time-consuming, costly and invasive, and the reliability of cell expansion may also prove to be a m...