Molecular Immunology Lab

Summary

Their research focuses on immunology, with a particular interest in myeloid cells and the molecular mechanisms driving their functional plasticity in cancer and immune-mediated diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease. In recent years, the group has specialized in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), an aggressive thoracic cancer. Although MPM is highly resistant to conventional therapies, immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. Building on this breakthrough and their recent findings, the team's current projects aim to identify novel combination immunotherapies to enhance anti-tumor immunity, using human multicellular spheroid models and murine orthotopic MPM models. Parallel efforts focus on uncovering predictive biomarkers of ICB response through systematic analysis of tumor tissue and liquid biopsies from MPM patients.

Keywords

Macrophages; Tumor microenvironment; Mesothelioma; Cancer; Inflammatory disorders.

Publications

    Chiara Porta: UPO IRIS; PUBMED