Michele 'Miki' De Palma (born 1973,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) is an Italian biologist and a professor at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). He is known for his work on the role of

macrophage Macrophages (abbreviated as M φ, MΦ or MP) ( el, large eaters, from Greek ''μακρός'' (') = large, ''φαγεῖν'' (') = to eat) are a type of white blood cell of the immune system that engulfs and digests pathogens, such as cancer cel ...

s in cancer progression and the discovery of

Tie2 The angiopoietin receptors are receptors that bind angiopoietin. TIE-1 and TIE-2 comprise the cell-surface receptors that bind and are activated by the angiopoietins, (Ang1, Ang2, Ang3, Ang4). The angiopoietins are protein growth factors req ...

-expressing

angiogenic Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature by processes of sprouting and splitting ...

monocyte Monocytes are a type of leukocyte or white blood cell. They are the largest type of leukocyte in blood and can differentiate into macrophages and conventional dendritic cells. As a part of the vertebrate innate immune system monocytes also inf ...

Career

De Palma obtained a master's degree in biology from the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

in 1999 after defending his thesis on the

cytostatic Cytostasis (cyto – cell; stasis – stoppage) is the inhibition of cell growth and multiplication. Cytostatic refers to a cellular component or medicine that inhibits cell division. Cytostasis is an important prerequisite for structured multic ...

effects of type-I interferons on

cancer cell Cancer cells are cells that divide continually, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood with abnormal cells. Cell division is a normal process used by the body for growth and repair. A parent cell divides to form two daughter cells, and these d ...

s. He then obtained a PhD in 2004 in the laboratory of Luigi Naldini, where he studied the effet of bone marrow-derived cells on tumor

angiogenesis Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature by processes of sprouting and splitting ...

, and performed post-doctoral work at the Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, further dissecting the role of

s and their potential use as a target for

gene therapy Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...

in the

treatment of cancer Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy (including immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy) and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments (e.g. ...

. De Palma was appointed group leader at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in 2008. In 2012, he was named tenure-track assistant Professor at EPFL, where he was promoted to associate Professor in 2018.

Research

De Palma heads the Angiogenesis and Tumor Microenvironment group at EPFL. His research focuses on the influence of the

tumor microenvironment The tumor microenvironment (TME) is the environment around a tumor, including the surrounding blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, signaling molecules and the extracellular matrix (ECM). The tumor and the surrounding microenvironment are cl ...

on cancer progression. De Palma and colleagues use genetic models of cancer as well as

genetically engineered Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

cells to decipher the complex interactions occurring between tumor cells,

blood vessel The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away ...

immune cells White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and derived from mult ...

and exosomes in the

. De Palma is known for having discovered a subpopulation of

-positive

s endowed with

capabilities, and which elicit tumor progression. He later showed that inhibition of the

-ligand

Angiopoietin 2 __NOTOC__ Angiopoietin-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ANGPT2'' gene. Naturally occurring antagonist for both ANGPT1 and TIE2; expressed only at the sites of vascular remodeling; similar to angiopoietin-1 Function * See A ...

induces tumor regression and inhibits

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

by preventing

. He also identified expression of

as an adaptive resistance mechanism upon

anti-angiogenic An angiogenesis inhibitor is a substance that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Some angiogenesis inhibitors are endogenous and a normal part of the body's control and others are obtained exogenously through pharmaceutical dru ...

treatment by

VEGF Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, ), originally known as vascular permeability factor (VPF), is a signal protein produced by many cells that stimulates the formation of blood vessels. To be specific, VEGF is a sub-family of growth factors, ...

inhibitors in a

mouse model A model organism (often shortened to model) is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the working ...

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. The laboratory of De Palma explores novel therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance to cancer immunotherapies. De Palma and colleagues notably showed that dual inhibition of

and

VEGF-A Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''VEGFA'' gene. Function This gene is a member of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family and encod ...

promotes anti-tumor immunity and potentiates treatment by

immune checkpoint Immune checkpoints are regulators of the immune system. These pathways are crucial for self-tolerance, which prevents the immune system from attacking cells indiscriminately. However, some cancers can protect themselves from attack by stimula ...

inhibitors. They also identified

microRNA MicroRNA (miRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21 to 23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals and some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. miRN ...

s as potential targets to reprogram

tumor-associated macrophage Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a class of immune cells present in high numbers in the microenvironment of solid tumors. They are heavily involved in cancer-related inflammation. Macrophages are known to originate from bone marrow-derived bl ...

s and to promote their anti-tumoral immune functions. De Palma and colleagues also explore the role of

extracellular vesicle Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid bilayer-delimited particles that are naturally released from almost all types of cell but, unlike a cell, cannot replicate. EVs range in diameter from near the size of the smallest physically possible unilame ...

s in cancer progression and resistance to therapy. In 2019, they showed that

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

stimulates the release of tumor-derivered pro-metastatic exosomes. De Palma's group also developed a new generation of

cancer vaccine A cancer vaccine is a vaccine that either treats existing cancer or prevents development of cancer. Vaccines that treat existing cancer are known as ''therapeutic'' cancer vaccines or tumor antigen vaccines. Some of the vaccines are "autologous", ...

based on

dendritic cell Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells (also known as ''accessory cells'') of the mammalian immune system. Their main function is to process antigen material and present it on the cell surface to the T cells of the immune system. ...

s engineered with a chimeric receptor called ''EVIR'', designed to internalize tumor-derived exosomes and associated cancer antigens, thus stimulating anti-tumor immunity. De Palma has also published multiple studies on the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

, including the description of several new species.

Distinctions

In 2013, De Palma was awarded with the Leenaards Scientific Prize for his research on anti-angiogenic therapies and cancer immunotherapy. He also received the Robert Wenner Prize in 2017, presented by the Swiss Cancer League. De Palma received a starting grant in 2009 and a consolidator grant in 2016 from the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

. De Palma serves on the scientific advisory and editorial board of several

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific journals, such as ''

Science Translational Medicine ''Science Translational Medicine'' is an interdisciplinary medical journal established in October 2009 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It covers basic, translational, and clinical research on human diseases. According ...

'', ''

Cell Reports ''Cell Reports'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research papers across a broad range of disciplines within the life sciences. The journal was established in 2012 and is the first open access journal published by Cell Press, an imp ...

'', ''BBA Reviews on Cancer'' and ''Cancer Immunology Research.''

References

External links

Michele de Palma's lab
at EPFL. *
Michele de Palma's profile
on

Scopus Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-l ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Palma, Michele Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 1973 births Living people Italian academics University of Turin alumni Italian biologists