Università della Svizzera italiana

Macrophage death following influenza vaccination initiates the inflammatory response that promotes dendritic cell function in the draining lymph node

Chatziandreou, Nikolaos ; Farsakoglu, Yagmur ; Palomino-Segura, Miguel ; D’Antuono, Rocco ; Pizzagalli, Diego Ulisse ; Sallusto, Federica ; Lukacs-Kornek, Veronika ; Uguccioni, Mariagrazia ; Corti, Davide ; Turley, Shannon J. ; Lanzavecchia, Antonio ; Carroll, Michael C. ; Gonzalez, Santiago F.

In: Cell reports, 2017, vol. 18, no. 10, p. 2427-2440

The mechanism by which inflammation influences the adaptive response to vaccines is not fully understood. Here, we examine the role of lymph node macrophages (LNMs) in the induction of the cytokine storm triggered by inactivated influenza virus vaccine. Following vaccination, LNMs undergo inflammasome-independent necrosis-like death that is reliant on MyD88 and Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7)...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Inhibition of Notch pathway arrests PTEN-deficient advanced prostate cancer by triggering p27-driven cellular senescence

Revandkar, Ajinkya ; Perciato, Maria Luna ; Toso, Alberto ; Alajati, Abdullah ; Chen, Jingjing ; Gerber, Hermeto ; Dimitrov, Mitko ; Rinaldi, Andrea ; Delaleu, Nicolas ; Pasquini, Emiliano ; D’Antuono, Rocco ; Pinton, Sandra ; Losa, Marco ; Gnetti, Letizia ; Arribas, Alberto ; Fraering, Patrick ; Bertoni, Francesco ; Nepveu, Alain ; Andrea Alimonti

In: Nature communications, 2016, vol. 7, p. 13719

Activation of NOTCH signalling is associated with advanced prostate cancer and treatment resistance in prostate cancer patients. However, the mechanism that drives NOTCH activation in prostate cancer remains still elusive. Moreover, preclinical evidence of the therapeutic efficacy of NOTCH inhibitors in prostate cancer is lacking. Here, we provide evidence that PTEN loss in prostate tumours ...

Università della Svizzera italiana

A bispecific immunotweezer prevents soluble PrP oligomers and abolishes prion toxicity

Bardelli, Marco ; Frontzek, Karl ; Simonelli, Luca ; Hornemann, Simone ; Pedotti, Mattia ; Mazzola, Federica ; Carta, Manfredi ; Eckhardt, Valeria ; D’Antuono, Rocco ; Virgilio, Tommaso ; González, Santiago F. ; Aguzzi, Adriano ; Varani, Luca

In: Plos pathogens, 2018, vol. 14, no. 10, p. e1007335

Antibodies to the prion protein, PrP, represent a promising therapeutic approach against prion diseases but the neurotoxicity of certain anti-PrP antibodies has caused concern. Here we describe scPOM-bi, a bispecific antibody designed to function as a molecular prion tweezer. scPOM-bi combines the complementarity-determining regions of the neurotoxic antibody POM1 and the neuroprotective...

Università della Svizzera italiana

ATP released by intestinal bacteria limits the generation of protective IgA against enteropathogens

Proietti, Michele ; Perruzza, Lisa ; Scribano, Daniela ; Pellegrini, Giovanni ; D’Antuono, Rocco ; Strati, Francesco ; Raffaelli, Marco ; Gonzalez, Santiago F. ; Thelen, Marcus ; Hardt, Wolf-Dietrich ; Slack, Emma ; Nicoletti, Mauro ; Grassi, Fabio

In: Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, p. Art. number: 250

T cell dependent secretory IgA (SIgA) generated in the Peyer’s patches (PPs) of the small intestine shapes a broadly diverse microbiota that is crucial for host physiology. The mutualistic co-evolution of host and microbes led to the relative tolerance of host’s immune system towards commensal microorganisms. The ATP-gated ionotropic P2X7 receptor limits T follicular helper (Tfh) cells...