The success of immunotherapeutic approaches strictly depends on the interaction of the immune cells with cancer cells. While conventional in-vitro cell cultures under-represent the complexity and dynamic crosstalk of the tumour microenvironment, animal models do not allow deciphering the anti-tumour activity of the human immune system.
Therefore, it becomes mandatory the adoption of organ-on-chips (OOC)- as predictive preclinical models for the screening of immune-therapeutic approaches.
In this webinar, we will present our recent data on the immune cell Natural Killer (NK) migration under physiological fluid flow, recapitulated within the MIVO device, infiltration within a 3D tumour matrix, and activation against neuroblastoma cancer cells in a humanized, fluid-dynamic environment.
The proposed immune-tumour MIVO-based model represents a promising approach for faithfully recapitulating the human pathology and efficiently employing the immunotherapies testing, eventually in a
personalized perspective.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr Roberta Castriconi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Experimental Medicine DIMES of the University of Genoa.
One of the most cited Italian scientists, Dr Roberta Castriconi’s research is focused on the molecular mechanisms regulating immune responses in humans, in particular, the study of the function of NK cells in physiological and pathological conditions.
Due to her extensive experience in tumour immunology, she’s an expert in the molecular mechanisms regulating NK/NB interaction and collected many awards during her career.
She collaborates with Istituto Giannina Gaslini of Genoa and is also part of the Executive Board of SIICA (Italian Society of Immunology, Clinical Immunology and Allergology).