Francesca Granucci PhD

Francesca Granucci has pioneered systems biology approaches to study complex dynamic processes of innate immunity, such as host-pathogen interactions and the process of DC maturation in response to different microbial stimuli. She has described the molecular events occurring during bacterial-DC interactions and has uncovered an underlying mechanism of NK cell activation in studies, which demonstrate that dendritic cells (DC) serve as accessory cells to directly activate NK cells.

The research group has also demonstrated that CD14, a molecule of the LPS receptor complex, is at the apex of all cellular responses to this bacterial stimulus, by controlling its recognition and TLR4 (the major component of LPS receptor complex) trafficking to the endosomal compartment with the consequent initiation of all of the signaling pathways known to be activated in response to this microbial stimulus. Moreover, her group has identified a new signaling pathway activated by LPS in DCs completely controlled by CD14 and leading to the activation of NFAT transcription factor family members. The activation of the NFAT pathway in innate immune cells has then important consequences in the inflammatory process contributing to vasodilation and increase of vascular permeability in response to microbial stimuli. This extensive work has been successfully crowned by publications in outstanding scientific journals including Nature, Cell, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Cell Reports and others.