Deciphering and reprogramming the tumor microenvironment
Event details
| Date | 04.10.2017 |
| Hour | 12:15 › 13:15 |
| Speaker | Michele (Miki) De Palma, EPFL |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract
The field of oncoimmunology is experiencing a surge in research interest following the early successes of immunotherapies that reinvigorate the anti-tumoral capacity of T lymphocytes. However, a sobering clinical reality is that only a minority of the patients achieve sustained cancer remissions. Identifying and overcoming the barriers to effective cancer immunotherapy is not only a timely medical need, but also an exciting area of basic and pre-clinical research. While responsiveness to immunotherapy is partly controlled by the intrinsic immunogenicity of the cancer cells, the ensemble of non-malignant tumor-associated cells that organize the tumor microenvironment (TME) provides a formidable barrier to anti-tumoral T lymphocytes. Charting new vulnerabilities in the TME may, therefore, offer complementary parameters for improving the efficacy and applicability of cancer immunotherapies. Strategic efforts in my laboratory aim to propel discoveries of poorly understood mechanisms of cancer progression and therapeutic resistance that are sustained by the TME. This is achieved by employing genetic cancer models and immuno-engineering strategies that enable deciphering and reprogramming the interplay between innate immune cells, angiogenic blood vessels, and T lymphocytes in tumors. In this seminar, I will illustrate new strategies based on harnessing or exploiting mechanisms of angiogenic signaling, cell-to-cell communication through extracellular vesicles, and microRNA regulation, for reprogramming the TME to a form that bolsters anti-tumoral T lymphocytes and the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies.
Bio:
Michele (Miki) De Palma heads the Angiogenesis and Tumor Microenvironment laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
Miki obtained his Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Turin Medical School, Italy, where he studied the contribution of bone marrow-derived cells to tumor angiogenesis under the direction of Luigi Naldini. He performed post-doctoral training at the San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, Milan, to develop new gene transfer strategies for reprogramming tumor-infiltrating monocytes into anti-tumoral immune cells. He joined EPFL in 2011, where he teaches cancer biology. By employing genetic cancer models and cell-engineering strategies based on lentiviral gene transfer, the De Palma lab investigates the interplay between macrophages, blood vessels and T cells in tumors, primarily by focusing on angiogenic signaling, microRNA regulation, and secreted exosomes. Miki has co-organized international conferences on tumor immunology and angiogenesis, and serves on the advisory boards of the scientific journals Science Translational Medicine (AAAS), Cell Reports (Cell press), BBA - Reviews on Cancer, and Cancer Immunology Research (AACR). Miki received two European Research Council (ERC) grants, in 2009 and 2016. In his spare time, he studies the taxonomy of the African fruit chafers (Cetoniidae).
The field of oncoimmunology is experiencing a surge in research interest following the early successes of immunotherapies that reinvigorate the anti-tumoral capacity of T lymphocytes. However, a sobering clinical reality is that only a minority of the patients achieve sustained cancer remissions. Identifying and overcoming the barriers to effective cancer immunotherapy is not only a timely medical need, but also an exciting area of basic and pre-clinical research. While responsiveness to immunotherapy is partly controlled by the intrinsic immunogenicity of the cancer cells, the ensemble of non-malignant tumor-associated cells that organize the tumor microenvironment (TME) provides a formidable barrier to anti-tumoral T lymphocytes. Charting new vulnerabilities in the TME may, therefore, offer complementary parameters for improving the efficacy and applicability of cancer immunotherapies. Strategic efforts in my laboratory aim to propel discoveries of poorly understood mechanisms of cancer progression and therapeutic resistance that are sustained by the TME. This is achieved by employing genetic cancer models and immuno-engineering strategies that enable deciphering and reprogramming the interplay between innate immune cells, angiogenic blood vessels, and T lymphocytes in tumors. In this seminar, I will illustrate new strategies based on harnessing or exploiting mechanisms of angiogenic signaling, cell-to-cell communication through extracellular vesicles, and microRNA regulation, for reprogramming the TME to a form that bolsters anti-tumoral T lymphocytes and the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies.
Bio:
Michele (Miki) De Palma heads the Angiogenesis and Tumor Microenvironment laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
Miki obtained his Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Turin Medical School, Italy, where he studied the contribution of bone marrow-derived cells to tumor angiogenesis under the direction of Luigi Naldini. He performed post-doctoral training at the San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, Milan, to develop new gene transfer strategies for reprogramming tumor-infiltrating monocytes into anti-tumoral immune cells. He joined EPFL in 2011, where he teaches cancer biology. By employing genetic cancer models and cell-engineering strategies based on lentiviral gene transfer, the De Palma lab investigates the interplay between macrophages, blood vessels and T cells in tumors, primarily by focusing on angiogenic signaling, microRNA regulation, and secreted exosomes. Miki has co-organized international conferences on tumor immunology and angiogenesis, and serves on the advisory boards of the scientific journals Science Translational Medicine (AAAS), Cell Reports (Cell press), BBA - Reviews on Cancer, and Cancer Immunology Research (AACR). Miki received two European Research Council (ERC) grants, in 2009 and 2016. In his spare time, he studies the taxonomy of the African fruit chafers (Cetoniidae).
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- SV Faculty
Contact
- Dr Hirling / M. Mary