Research
Lung implantable devices (e.g. stents, valves, coils) are effective mechanical interventions to improve lung function but treatment benefit is often compromised by granulation and fibrotic tissue formation at the implant site. My research integrates in vitro models with clinical and biological data from the BIO-EXEL trial to unravel the mechanisms driving these pathological tissue responses, with a focus on mechanical stress and cell–material interactions.
Keywords: Implantable Lung Devices, Biomaterials, Foreign-body reaction, COPD, Granulation tissue, Fibrosis
Gupta, A, Burgess, JK, Borghuis, T, Slebos, DJ, Pouwels, SD. Contact-compression induces inflammatory and remodeling responses in bronchial epithelial cells. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2026;330 (4):L304-L317. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00247.2025. PubMed PMID:41615694 . Gupta, A, Slebos, DJ, Pouwels, SD. Lung implantable devices: the issue with granulation tissue. Breathe (Sheff). 2025;21 (3):240243. doi: 10.1183/20734735.0243-2024. PubMed PMID:40673062 PubMed Central PMC12260914. Gupta, A, Burgess, JK, Slebos, DJ, Pouwels, SD. The development, validation, and in vivo testing of a high-precision bronchial epithelial lining fluid sampling device. Front Med (Lausanne). 2023;10 :1172622. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1172622. PubMed PMID:37564050 PubMed Central PMC10410264. Gupta, A, Burgess, JK, Borghuis, T, de Vries, MP, Kuipers, J, Permentier, HP et al.. Identification of damage associated molecular patterns and extracellular matrix proteins as major constituents of the surface proteome of lung implantable silicone/nitinol devices. Acta Biomater. 2022;141 :209-218. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2022.01.016. PubMed PMID:35038586 .