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
Lopez Rodriguez LI, Amadio R, Piperno GM, Benvenuti F. Tissue-specific properties of type 1 dendritic cells in lung cancer: implications for immunotherapy. J Immunother Cancer, 2025
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. Cell shape sensing licenses dendritic cells for homeostatic migration to lymph nodes. Nat Immunol, 2024
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. Dendritic cell-targeted therapy expands CD8 T cell responses to bona-fide neoantigens in lung tumors. Nat Commun, 2024
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. Tim4 enables large peritoneal macrophages to cross-present tumor antigens at early stages of tumorigenesis. Cell Reports, 2024
Morosi, L.G., G.M. Piperno, L. Lopez, R. Amadio, S. Joshi, A. Rustighi, G. Del Sal, and F. Benvenuti.. ALCAM-mediated cDC1 CD8 T cells interactions are suppressed in advanced lung tumors. Oncoimmunology, 2024
Simoncello F, Piperno GM, Caronni N, Amadio R, Cappelletto A, Canarutto G, Piazza S, Bicciato S, Benvenuti F. CXCL5-mediated accumulation of mature neutrophils in lung cancer tissues impairs the differentiation program of anticancer CD8 T cells and limits the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors. Oncoimmunology, 2022.
Caronni N, Piperno GM, Simoncello F, Romano O, Vodret S, Yanagihashi Y, Dress R, Dutertre CA, Bugatti M, Bourdeley P, Del Prete A, Schioppa T, Mazza EMC, Collavin L, Zacchigna S, Ostuni R, Guermonprez P, Vermi W, Ginhoux F, Bicciato S, Nagata S, Benvenuti F. “TIM4 expression by dendritic cells mediates uptake of tumor-associated antigens and anti-tumor responses”. Nat Commun. 2021
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