Laboratory of Tumor Immunology

Overview of the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology

The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology conducts interdisciplinary research at the interface of immunology, cell biology, genetic engineering, and immuno-oncology. Its activities focus on elucidating the mechanisms that regulate immune responses within the tumor microenvironment and on developing advanced, personalized strategies for cancer immunotherapy and diagnostics. Particular emphasis is placed on extracellular vesicles (EVs) as mediators of communication between tumor and non-malignant cells. In parallel, genetic engineering strategies are being developed to generate EV-based platforms with defined biological activities. Depending on the type of modification, EVs are designed either as nanoadjuvants that enhance the efficacy of existing anticancer therapies or as platforms exerting direct cytotoxic activity against cancer cells.

Research areas:

• design and characterization of engineered EVs delivering immunostimulatory cytokines or inhibitors of immunosuppressive factors, and evaluation of their capacity to induce antitumor immune responses;
• identification and characterization of novel tumor antigen formulations supporting the development of personalized dendritic cell-based immunotherapy;
• investigation of extracellular vesicles released by genetically engineered NK cells with enhanced cytotoxic activity and selectivity toward cancer cells;
• investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying vascular normalization and immunonormalization in tumors, including the contribution of endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles to the regulation of these processes;
• analysis of the molecular mechanisms regulating immune checkpoint expression in tumor and immune cells, together with the identification of predictive biomarkers of immunotherapy efficacy and the development of treatment resistance.