NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES / Immunology
Research Interests
Cross-talk between myeloid cells and cancer cells during lung cancer progression, cell biology of cross-presentation by type 1 dendritic cells in cancer. Developing techniques for quantitative profiling of immune infiltrate by flow cytometry and tissue imaging.
Description of Research
As cancer burden dramatically increases in low and middle income countries, there is an urgent need to identify and implement sustainable immunotherapy approaches. Besides basic research to discover novel immune-related actionable axes, our team develops robust protocols to characterize the immune infiltrate of tumors, a fundamental steps towards a rationale use of immunotherapy.
Fundamental research in the lab aims to unravel the mechanisms underlying presentation of tumour associated antigens by specialised subsets of myeloid cells in tumor tissues. Using genetic models of experimental lung cancer and 3D organoids that recapitulate the immune environment of the human disease, we address specific questions related to myeloid-cancer cell cross-talk along tumour progression, with a special focus on the early events of tumour initiation.
Central to these activities is the use of high-dimensional profiling to characterise the immune composition of tumours. We develop and apply flow cytometry panels, scRNA-seq bioinformatics pipelines, and spatial analyses to map the distribution of immune cells within cancer tissues. In parallel, our team organises workshops and hands-on courses covering both basic and advanced methodologies for tumour classification based on immune composition, supporting the global advancement of immunotherapy.
Recent Publications
Dendritic cells control tertiary lymphoid structure development and maintenance in cancer. Mattiuz R, Boumelha J, Aerakis E, Le Berichel J, Hamon P, Halasz L, Vaidya A, Soong BY, Radkevich E, Kim HM, Park MD, Donne R, Troncoso L, Kaplan RA, Hennequin C, Hernández-Verdin I, López L, Rentzeperis F, D’Souza D, Kaiza ME, MacFawn IP, Belabed M, Mestrallet G, Humblin E, Merand R, Hegde S, Lone JC, Ioannou G, Ozbey S, Figueiredo I, Tepper A, Merarda H, Serhan N, Schaefer MM, An J, Ohara RA, Nemeth E, Goldstein S, Reid AM, Noureddine M, Tabachnikova A, Piperno GM, Tsoumakidou M, Ahmed J, Polydorides AD, Bhardwaj N, Lujambio A, Chen Z, Gonzalez Kozlova E, Kim-Schulze S, Brody JD, Schotsaert M, Moussion C, Gnjatic S, Roudko V, Ginhoux F, Murphy KM, Sautès-Fridman C, Fridman WH, Brown BD, Marron TU, Benvenuti F, Cyster JG, Salmon H, Bruno TC, Joshi NS, Kamphorst AO, Merad M. Science. 2026 Jul 16; 393(6808): eady1678. doi: 10.1126/science.ady1678. Epub 2026 Jul 16. PMID: 42462020. PubMed link
BCAP Is an Interferon-Stimulated Gene That Enhances Type I Interferon Activity in Response to Lipopolysaccharide. Di Rosa M, Piperno GM, Tesser A, Pin A, Sospiro G, Valencic E, Boz V, Pastore S, Tommasini A, Benvenuti F. Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jul 22; 26(15): 7034. doi: 10.3390/ijms26157034. PMID: 40806167; PMCID: PMC12346107. PubMed link
Tissue-specific properties of type 1 dendritic cells in lung cancer: implications for immunotherapy. Lopez Rodriguez LI, Amadio R, Piperno GM, Benvenuti F. J Immunother Cancer, 2025. PubMed link
Cell shape sensing licenses dendritic cells for homeostatic migration to lymph nodes. Alraies Z, Rivera CA, Delgado MG, Sanséau D, Maurin M, Amadio R, Maria Piperno G, Dunsmore G, Yatim A, Lacerda Mariano L, Kniazeva A, Calmettes V, Sáez PJ, Williart A, Popard H, Gratia M, Lamiable O, Moreau A, Fusilier Z, Crestey L, Albaud B, Legoix P, Dejean AS, Le Dorze AL, Nakano H, Cook DN, Lawrence T, Manel N, Benvenuti F, Ginhoux F, Moreau HD, P F Nader G, Piel M, Lennon-Duménil AM. Nat Immunol, 2024. PubMed link
Dendritic cell-targeted therapy expands CD8 T cell responses to bona-fide neoantigens in lung tumors. Lopez, L., L.G. Morosi, F. La Terza, P. Bourdely, G. Rospo, R. Amadio, G.M. Piperno, V. Russo, C. Volponi, S. Vodret, S. Joshi, F. Giannese, D. Lazarevic, G. Germano, P. Stoitzner, A. Bardelli, M. Dalod, L. Pace, N. Caronni, P. Guermonprez, and F. Benvenuti. Nat Commun, 2024. Nature link
Tim4 enables large peritoneal macrophages to cross-present tumor antigens at early stages of tumorigenesis. Joshi, S., L. Lopez, L.G. Morosi, R. Amadio, M. Pachauri, M. Bestagno, I.P. Ogar, M. Giacca, G.M. Piperno, D. Vorselen, and F. Benvenuti. 2024. Cell Reports, 2024. PubMed link
Group Leader
Federica Benvenuti
ICGEB Trieste, Italy
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: +39-040-3757389
Group Leader CV
Group Members
Giulia Maria Piperno, Research Associate
Lucia Ines Lopez Rodriguez, Research Scientist
Giorgio Anselmi, Research Scientist
Emma Dalla Mora, PhD Student
Gabriele De Losa, PhD Student
Luka Pavlovic, PhD Student
Aprajita Sinha, PhD Student