Research Topics

Cancer immunology and immunotherapy

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I have dedicated my career to uncovering how the immune system controls cancer and how it can be harnessed for therapy. I am an expert in the fields of cancer immunology and immunotherapy, focusing on both adaptive and innate immunity. My work has helped identify how some cancers are regulated by various immune cells, including cytotoxic T cells, regulatory T cells, macrophages, monocytes, neutrophils and dendritic cells, which are all considered as drug targets in cancer immunotherapy.

SPECIFIC EXPERTISE

- Myeloid cell biology (monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells)
- Molecular imaging, including intravital microscopy, to track immune activity in vivo

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Swirski FK, Nahrendorf M, Etzrodt M, Wildgruber M, Cortez-Retamozo V, Panizzi P, Figueiredo JL, Kohler RH, Chudnovskiy A, Waterman P, Aikawa E, Mempel TR, Libby P, Weissleder R, Pittet MJ. Identification of splenic reservoir monocytes and their deployment to inflammatory sites. Science. 2009 Jul 31;325(5940):612-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1175202. PMID: 19644120; PMCID: PMC2803111.

Pucci F, Garris C, Lai CP, Newton A, Pfirschke C, Engblom C, Alvarez D, Sprachman M, Evavold C, Magnuson A, von Andrian UH, Glatz K, Breakefield XO, Mempel TR, Weissleder R, Pittet MJ. SCS macrophages suppress melanoma by restricting tumor-derived vesicle-B cell interactions. Science. 2016 Apr 8;352(6282):242-6. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf1328. Epub 2016 Mar 17. PMID: 26989197; PMCID: PMC4960636.

Arlauckas SP, Garris CS, Kohler RH, Kitaoka M, Cuccarese MF, Yang KS, Miller MA, Carlson JC, Freeman GJ, Anthony RM, Weissleder R, Pittet MJ. In vivo imaging reveals a tumor-associated macrophage-mediated resistance pathway in anti-PD-1 therapy. Sci Transl Med. 2017 May 10;9(389):eaal3604. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aal3604. PMID: 28490665; PMCID: PMC5734617.

Engblom C, Pfirschke C, Zilionis R, Da Silva Martins J, Bos SA, Courties G, Rickelt S, Severe N, Baryawno N, Faget J, Savova V, Zemmour D, Kline J, Siwicki M, Garris C, Pucci F, Liao HW, Lin YJ, Newton A, Yaghi OK, Iwamoto Y, Tricot B, Wojtkiewicz GR, Nahrendorf M, Cortez-Retamozo V, Meylan E, Hynes RO, Demay M, Klein A, Bredella MA, Scadden DT, Weissleder R, Pittet MJ. Osteoblasts remotely supply lung tumors with cancer-promoting SiglecFhigh neutrophils. Science. 2017 Dec 1;358(6367):eaal5081. doi: 10.1126/science.aal5081. PMID: 29191879; PMCID: PMC6343476.

Siwicki M, Gort-Freitas NA, Messemaker M, Bill R, Gungabeesoon J, Engblom C, Zilionis R, Garris C, Gerhard GM, Kohl A, Lin Y, Zou AE, Cianciaruso C, Bolli E, Pfirschke C, Lin YJ, Piot C, Mindur JE, Talele N, Kohler RH, Iwamoto Y, Mino-Kenudson M, Pai SI, deVito C, Koessler T, Merkler D, Coukos A, Wicky A, Fraga M, Sempoux C, Jain RK, Dietrich PY, Michielin O, Weissleder R, Klein AM, Pittet MJ. Resident Kupffer cells and neutrophils drive liver toxicity in cancer immunotherapy. Sci Immunol. 2021 Jul 2;6(61):eabi7083. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abi7083. PMID: 34215680; PMCID: PMC8845079.

 

 
10 Jun 2022

Immune dysfunction