LORETTA TUOSTO

Tutte le informazioni sui corsi e il relativo materiale didattico sono su e-learning.

Martedì 1 ottobre 2024 inizierà il corso di Oncologia Molecolare  in Aula Sergi - Ed CU026 (Antropologia) alle ore 14.00. Le lezioni si svolgeranno tutti i martedì e giovedì dalle 14.00 alle 16.00 nella medesima aula.

Giovedì 27 febbraio 2025 inizierà il corso di Immunologia  in Aula Pasquini - Ed CU008 (Zoologia) alle ore 14.00. Le lezioni si svolgeranno tutti i martedì e giovedì dalle 14.00 alle 16.00 nella medesima aula.

Lunedì 3 marzo 2025 inizierà il corso di Immunopatologia delle Malattie Neurodegenerative  in Aula Seminari - Ed CU008 Zoologia alle ore 14.00. Le lezioni si svolgeranno tutti i lunedì e mercoledì dalle 14.00 alle 16.00 nella medesima aula.

Academic Appointments

Start End Institution Position
2000 2002 Department of Cellular Biology and Development Sapienza University of Rome Research contract
2002 2003 Department of Cellular Biology and Development, Sapienza University Assegno di ricerca
2004 2012 Department of Biology and Biotechnologies Charles Darwin, Sapienza University of Rome Assistant Professor, SC 06/A2, SSD MED/04 – General Pathology
2006 present Sapienza University of Rome Member of the Academic Board of the PhD Program in “Biologia cellulare e dello Sviluppo”
2014 2014 University of Rome Tor Vergata Member of the Commission for the release of the PhD title in “Cellular and Molecular Biology” (XXVI cycle)
2012 present Department of Biology and Biotechnologies Charles Darwin, Sapienza University of Rome Associate Professor, SC 06/A2, SSD MED/04 – General Pathology
2021 2024 Sapienza University of Rome Member of the “Giunta di Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie Charles Darwin”
2023 2025 Sapienza University of Rome Member of the “Giunta di Facoltà di Scienze Matematiche Fisiche e Naturali”
Oct 2025 Department of Biology and Biotechnologies Charles Darwin, Sapienza University of Rome Full Professor SSD MEDS-02A

Other Appointments

Start End Institution Position
1994 1998 Molecular Immunology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France Pre- and Post-doctorate fellowships (ISS, FRM)
2004 present Department of Biology and biotechnologies Charles Darwin, Sapienza University of Rome Team leader of the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology
2004 2024 Sapienza University of Rome Tutor activity of bachelor students (>30), master students (>20) and PhD students (5).

Society memberships, Awards and Honors

Year Title
1998 1st Prize PBI (GCI) for research activtity
2000 1st Prize Mascia Brunelli, Associazione Italiana Colture Cellulari (ONLUS-AICC, 2000)
2004-present Member of the Società Italiana d’Immunologia, Immunologia Clinica ed Allergologia (SIICA)
2010-present Member of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
2008-2022 Affiliation with Istituto Pasteur Italia – Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti
2020 Vigevani Research Project Prize 2020

Reviewer activity and Editorial Board

Year Title
2000-current Ad hoc review: Nature Review in Immunology - Journal of Immunology - British Journal of Immunology - BMC Immunology - Molecular Cancer Therapeutics European Journal of Immunology - Apoptosis – Immunology Letters - Cell Death and Differentiation - Cancer Letters - Cell Death and Disease - Journal of Leukocyte Biology – British Journal of Cancer – Cancers – Cells – Embo Journal – Faseb Journal – Molecular Cancer Therapeutics – Oncotarget – Nature Communications – PNAS – Scientific Reports
2013 Scientific reviewer for FIRB research project, MIUR
2013 Scientific reviewer for research projects, ANR (French National Research Agency)
2016-present Associate Editor of Frontiers in Immunology, section “T cell Biology”
2018-present F1000 Faculty member/H1 connect
2017 Co-editor Research Topic “Membrane Lipids in T cell Functions”. Frontiers in Immunology
2018 Scientific reviewer for research projects, EEA Grants – Collaborative Research Projects (Romania)
2021 Scientific reviewer for research projects, Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
2021 Scientific reviewer for research projects, FARE 3a (MIUR)
2022 Co-editor Research Topic “Insights in T cell Biology - 2021”. Frontiers in Immunology
2022-present Associate Editor of Cells, MDPI Journals
2023 Scientific reviewer for research projects, ANR-AAPG 2023
2024-present Associate Editor of Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, section “Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics”
2024 Scientific reviewer for research projects, ANR-AAPG 2024

Funding Information [grants as PI-principal investigator or I-investigator]

Year Title Program
2000 “Come il TCR e CD28 mediano l’attivazione di NF-B”. PI “Progetto Giovani Ricercatori” MIUR
2000 “Caratterizzazione dei meccanismi molecolari che regolano i segnali del TCR e CD28 che portano all’attivazione di NF-B”. PI CNR-Agenzia2000, CNR
2004 “Analisi dei meccanismi regolatori dell'apoptosi
mitocondri-dipendente nei linfociti T: ruolo dei fattori
trascrizionali NF-kB e p73” PRIN 2004, MIUR
2005 “Regional AIRC Grants for Research on Ovarian Carcinoma”. PI AIRC
2006 “La molecola costimolatoria CD28 come regolatore
chiave del differenziamento e sopravvivenza dei linfociti
T: caratterizzazione delle vie biochimiche coinvolte” PRIN 2006, MIUR
2008-2024 16 “Progetto Ateneo”. PI/Component Sapienza University of Rome, PI
2008-present 5 Research projects: 1. “CD28 co-stimulatory molecule as a key regulator of T lymphocyte
differentiation and survival: characterisation of the biochemical pathways and molecules
coupling CD28 to NF-kB activation”; 2. “CD28 co-stimulatory molecule as a key regulator of NF-κB
signalling pathway: role of cytoskeleton in coupling CD28 to NF-κB
activation”; 3. “Molecular and
functional characterization of the mechanisms regulating CD28 co-stimulatory signals
in T lymphocytes”; 4. “Characterization of the signalling molecules and cellular metabolic programs
regulating CD28 pro-inflammatory functions”; 5. “Bispecific antibodies targeting CD28 and MUC1 for improving cancer immunotherapy”. PI Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti
2011 FISM 2011_R_36: Characterization of CD28 signalling pathways as therapeutic targets to regulate immune tolerance in Multiple Sclerosis. PI Fondazione italiana sclerosi Multipla (FISM)
2016 FISM FISM 2016-R-29: Role of CD28 and associated class 1A PI3K in the regulation of the cellular metabolic programs associated to pro-inflammatory T cell responses in Multiple Sclerosis. PI Fondazione italiana sclerosi Multipla (FISM)
2020 FISM 2020-R-Single/001: Selective targeting of CD28 costimulatory molecule as a therapeutic strategy
for preventing inflammatory responses of T helper cells induced by viral and
bacterial superantigens in MS patients. PI Fondazione italiana sclerosi Multipla (FISM)
2020 “ Specialised phenotyping – Functional immune-phenotyping screen by mass cytometry”. PI INFRAFRONTIER2020
2023 “Improving ovarian cancer immunotherapy by the combination of Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 blockade and bispecific antibodies
targeting CD28 and tumour-associated antigens”. Coordinator PRIN 2022 PNRR, MIUR
2024 “Progetto Medie Attrezzature” “Next-generation ultra-sonication instrument for high quality biological and biochemical sample preparation for studies in genomics and epigenomics, proteomics, cancer research, plant research, immunology and pathology.”. Coordinator Sapienza Università di Roma
2024 “Untangling how microenvironment remodelled by tumor and stromal cells facilitate ovarian cancer metastasis: interaction between integrins and microbiome”, PI PRIN 2022, MIUR

Research Activities
Brief Description
Apoptosis I started my research activity in 1991 and since 2000 I direct a research group characterized by several national and international collaborations as evidenced by authors co-signing our scientific works.
My research activity has been focused in the fields of cellular and molecular immunology and oncology. My work has resulted in the development of a well-characterized system to analyze the molecules, mechanisms and signal transduction pathways involved in cell activation and apoptosis. The analysis of apoptosis induction was initiated in 1993 and allowed the clarification of signals regulating the susceptibility of T cells to apoptosis induced by several stimuli, including immunosuppressive drugs and HIV-1. My studies unraveled the role of Bcl-2 family proteins in regulating T lymphocyte cell death in response to specific apoptotic signals.
My laboratory also characterized the signalling pathways regulating mitochondria-dependent and Bax-regulated apoptosis in response to chemotherapeutic drugs. These studies contributed to elucidate and the role of p53 and p73 oncosuppressors in the acquisition of resistance to apoptosis by tumour cells. In particular, we identified a new tumour-associated mutant of p53 (K351N) involved in the acquisition of resistance to apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells and with specific defects in tetramerization, transcriptional activity and nuclear export.
We also contributed to the characterization of the molecules involved in the activation of NF-B signalling in T lymphocytes. We were among the first to evidence that the engagement of CD28 costimulatory molecule activates in primary T lymphocytes a non-canonical NF-B2-like cascade leading to the selective recruitment of RelA/p52 and RelA/RelA dimers on the promoter of several NF-B target genes including survival and inflammatory genes. These studies also contributed to the identification at a cellular and molecular level of distinct signalling abilities between human and mouse CD28, thus emphasizing the essential need to pay attention to molecular details when transferring results from preclinical models to the bedside. For this long-lasting expertise on CD28, she has been invited by Prof. Choi to write a chapter on CD28 in Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules, 2nd Edition, Springer.
Our recent studies clarify the pivotal role of membrane phospholipids, in particular phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate, and the kinases responsible for their generation (PIP5K, PIP4K and class 1A PI3K) in the regulation of cytoskeleton rearrangement necessary for organizing a complete signaling compartment regulating downstream signaling functions.
More recently, we focused on the role of CD28 in the regulation of the metabolic and inflammatory processes in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), highlighting an important contribution of class 1A PI3K associated with CD28 in the reprogramming of the metabolic processes that maintain/amplify the inflammatory phenotype of peripheral T lymphocytes, thus suggesting class 1A PI3K as a valid therapeutic target for MS. For these contribution in the field of T cell biology, in 2022, I was invited as co-editor of a Research Topic for Frontiers in Immunology entitled “Insights into T cell Biology-2021”, together with Prof. Chen Dong (Tsinghua University, Beijing, China) and Remy Bosselut (NIH, Rockville, United States).
Actually, we are working on the identificazione of novel immunotherapeutic strategies against ovarian cancer.

Summary of Scientific Achievements
Scopus ID: 6701785538
ORCiD: 0000-0001-9056-4077

Product type Number Data Base Start End
Papers [international] 67 Scopus, PubMed 1993 2024
Papers [international] first/last/corresponding 43 Scopus, PubMed 1993 2024
Books [scientific] 1 Encyclopedia of Signalling Molecules 2nd edition, Sangdun Choi Editor, Springer 2012 2018

Total Impact factor (IF) 493.1
Average IF per product 7.36
Total Citations (Scopus) 2639
Hirsch (H) index (Scopus) 30