After obtaining my Master’s degree in Biology applied to biomedical research at the University of Milan, Italy, in 2012 I had the chance to attend the PhD program in the same University and continue the project I worked on during my master’s thesis. My main project in the Leukocyte Biology Lab, headed by Prof. Massimo Locati at Humanitas Research Hospital in Milan, aimed at the characterization of the signaling properties of the atypical chemokine receptor ACKR2. For this I exploited different in vitro approaches to monitor protein-protein interaction as resonance energy transfer and to assess protein expression and phosphorylation by flow cytometry, western blot and phosphoproteome analysis. I have also been working on small molecules that bias the signaling activities of the chemokine receptors CXCR1 and CXCR2. I continued working on these projects for 9 months before joining the Experimental Immunology group at the DBM in November 2016, where I am currently working on the identification of cellular mechanisms involved in the generation of tumor antigens recognized by MR1T cells

MR1-restricted T cells, antigen presentation, autoimmunity

Identification of antigens presented by MR1

Vacchini A, Chancellor A, Spagnuolo J, Mori L, De Libero G. MR1-Restricted T Cells Are Unprecedented Cancer Fighters. Front Immunol. 2020 Apr 28;11:751

Di Blasi D, Vacchini A, De Libero G, Mori L. Isolation and Characterization of MAIT Cells from Human Tissue Biopsies. Methods Mol Biol. 2020;2098:23-38

Vacchini A, Locati M, Borroni EM. Overview and potential unifying themes of the atypical chemokine receptor family. J Leukoc Biol. 2016 Jun;99(6):883-92

Vacchini A, Mortier A, Proost P, Locati M, Metzemaekers M, Borroni EM. Differential Effects of Posttranslational Modifications of CXCL8/Interleukin-8 on CXCR1 and CXCR2 Internalization and Signaling Properties. Int J Mol Sci . 2018 Nov 27;19(12):3768

Borroni EM, Cancellieri C, Vacchini A, Benureau Y, Lagane B, Bachelerie F, Arenzana-Seisdedos F, Mizuno K, Mantovani A, Bonecchi R, Locati M. β-arrestin-dependent activation of the cofilin pathway is required for the scavenging activity of the atypical chemokine receptor D6. Science Signaling. 2013 Apr 30;6(273):ra30.1-11, S1-3.