Docenti

Antonio Rosato

Antonio Rosato

Full Professor

Telefono: +39-049-8215858

Phone lab: +39-049-8215844/46/47

E-mail: antonio.rosato@unipd.it

Education
July 1983: High School Diploma (60/60) at “Liceo Classico C. Marchesi", Padova
July-August 1987: Visiting Medical Student at the "Bone Marrow Transplant Unit", University of San Francisco (U.S.A.)
July 1991: Medical Degree (M.D.), summa cum laude, University of Padova
August 1991: Visiting Graduate at the Department of Medical Oncology, University of Uppsala (Sweden)
December 1991: Medical Licensing Examination, University of Padova
March-May 1993: Visiting Scientist at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (Sunley Division), University of London (winner of a "short-term fellowship" from the European Molecular Biology Organisation (E.M.B.O.)
May 1993: Visiting Scientist at the Department of Anatomy, University of Birmingham (U.K.)
August and September 1995: “United States Medical Licensing Examination” (USMLE) Step 1 e Step 2 (certificate n. 0-541-710-0)
November 1995: Specialization (70/70 with honors) in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Padova
February 1999: Ph.D. Degree in Oncology, University of Padova

Positions
President, “Consorzio per la Ricerca Sanitaria - CORIS”
Deputy Scientific Director, Istituto Oncologico Veneto IOV-IRCCS
Scientific Coordinator, Area 07 – Medical Sciences – University of Padova
President, OPBA (Organismo per il Benessere Animale), University of Padova
Member, Teaching Committee and GAV, Master in Medical Biotechnologies, University of Padova
Member, Teachers Committee, PhD in Clinical and Experimental Oncology and Immunology, University of Padova

I have been working in oncology and tumor immunology for over thirty years, in particular on the analysis of interactions between the immune system and neoplasia, the identification of molecular and cellular prognostic markers, and the study of tumor biotherapies. In this regard, a first major scientific accomplishment was the demonstration that DNA vaccination can be successfully employed to boost a strong T cell-mediated immune response even against self cancer-testis antigens, with the publication of the first paper on the topic from Italy (Rosato et al., Hum Gene Ther, 1997;8:1451-8). Along with the studies on active immunization, I have been long involved in the field of adoptive immunotherapy with T cells redirected through engineering with both “classical” anti-tumor TCR (Bobisse et al., Cancer Res, 2009;69:9385-94; again, the first Italian paper on the topic) and chimeric antigen receptor (Zuccolotto et al., Plos One, 2014:e109427), or “unconventional” cytotoxic T lymphocytes represented by CD4+ T cells directed to virus-associated antigens in EBV-related malignancies (Merlo et al., J Immunol, 2010;184:5895-902) and Cytokine-Induced Killer (CIK) cells instructed and retargeted against tumors (Cappuzzello et al., OncoImmunology, 2016;5:e1199311). An additional major scientific achievement has been the development and preclinical assessment of an entire new platform of drugs based on the conjugation of natural polymers (NP) with different therapeutic moieties, such as cytotoxic molecules (Banzato et al., Clin Cancer Res, 2008;14:3598-606) cytokines (Montagner et al., J Control Rel, 2016;236:79-89), radionuclides (Melendez-Alafort et al., Nucl Med Biol, 2009;36:693-701), carboranes for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) of tumors (Di Meo et al., Macromol Biosci, 2008;8:670-681), and immunogens. Finally, the need to study in vitro and in vivo the “biological fate” of pharmaceuticals, tumors and T cells (Banzato et al., Nucl Med Biol, 2009;36:525-33; Melendez-Alafort et al., Anti-cancer Agent ME, 2012;12:476-99; Montagner et al., Urol Oncol, 2013;31:1261-69; Montagner et al., Plos One, 2014:e112240) has led me to foster the development of a strong expertise in molecular imaging employing confocal microscopy analysis, scintigraphy, fluorescence and bioluminescence, radionuclide techniques, and more recently digital pathology to study the intimate relationships between tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor tissues.

1. Tosi A, Dalla Santa S, Cappuzzello E, Marotta C, Walerich D, Del Sal G, Zanovello P, Sommaggio R, Rosato A. Identification of a HLA-A*0201-restricted immunogenic epitope from the universal tumor antigen DEPDC1. OncoImmunology, 2017;6:e1313371.

2. Turrini R, Merlo A, Martorelli D, Faè DA, Sommaggio R, Montagner IM, Barbieri V, Marin O, Zanovello P, Dolcetti R, Rosato A. A BARF1-specific mAb as a new immunotherapeutic tool for the management of EBV-related tumors. OncoImmunology, 2017;6:e1304338.

3. Cappuzzello E, Tosi A, Zanovello P, Sommaggio R, Rosato A. Retargeting cytokine-induced killer cell activity by CD16 engagement with clinical-grade antibodies. Oncoimmunology. 2016;5:e1199311.

4. Montagner IM, Merlo A, Carpanese D, Dalla Pietà A, Mero A, Grigoletto A, Loregian A, Renier D, Campisi M, Zanovello P, Pasut G, Rosato A. A site-selective hyaluronan-interferonα2a conjugate for the treatment of ovarian cancer. J Control Release, 2016;236:79-89.

5. Quici S, Casoni A, Foschi F, Armelao L, Bottaro G, Seraglia R, Bolzati C, Salvarese N, Carpanese D, Rosato A. Folic acid-conjugated europium complexes as luminescent probes for selective targeting of cancer cells.

6. Zuccolotto G, Fracasso G, Montagner IM, Merlo A, Rondina M, Bobisse S, Figini M, Cingarlini S, Colombatti M, Zanovello P, Rosato A.PSMA-specific CAR-engineered T cells eradicate disseminated prostate cancer in preclinical models.  Plos One, 2014;9:e109427.

7. Dalla Santa S, Merlo A, Bobisse S, Ronconi E, Boldrin D, Milan G, Barbieri V, Marin O, Facchinetti A, Biasi G, Dolcetti R, Zanovello P, Rosato A. Functional avidity-driven activation-induced cell death shapes CTL Immunodominance. J Immunol, 2014;193:4704-4711.

8. Merlo A., Turrini, R., Bobisse S., Zamarchi R., Alaggio R., Dolcetti R., Mautner J., Zanovello P., Amadori A., Rosato A. Virus-specific cytotoxic CD4+ T cells for the treatment of EBV-related tumors. J Immunol, 2010;184:5895-902.

9. Bobisse S., Rondina M., Merlo A., Tisato V., Mandruzzato S., Amendola M., Naldini L., Willemsen R.A., Debets R., Zanovello P., Rosato A. Reprogramming T lymphocytes for melanoma adoptive immunotherapy by T-cell receptor gene transfer with lentiviral vectors. Cancer Res, 2009;69:9385-9394.

10. Banzato A., Bobisse S., Renier D., Bettella F., Esposito G., Quintieri L., Mélendez-Alafort L., Mazzi U., Zanovello P., RosatoA. A paclitaxel-hyaluronic acid bioconjugate targeting ovarian cancer affords a potent in vivo therapeutic activity. Clin. Cancer Res, 2008;14:3598-3606.

Istituto di Ricerca pediatrica Città della Speranza, 2017: Servizi a supporto dello sviluppo di un modello di leucemia mieloide acuta nel topo (Euros 70,000; PI).

ABResearch srl, 2017: Determinazione dell'effetto terapeutico del ligando ABRb1 su un modello di tumore ovarico del topo (Euros 20,000; PI).

Fidia Farmaceutici SpA, 2016: Studio di CD44 in campioni bioptici, con o senza trattamento Oncofid (Euros 10,000; PI).

Galileo Research, 2015: Analisi immunologiche e farmacocinetiche fase Clinica e di Follow-up, Studio fase II terapia cellulare adottiva non-MCH ristretta con somministrazione intraperitoneale cellule TALL-104 in pazienti con carcinoma ovarico  (Euros 335,780; Co-PI).

Bando Ricerca Finalizzata 2014-2015, Ministero della Salute: NET-2016-02361632 Precision immunotherapy for cancer treatment: understanding resistance to therapy, improving patients selection, and designing novel therapeutic strategies (Euros 350,000; Group Leader).

Fourth Joint Transnational Call of the ERA-Net Infect-ERA 2016: Towards a combined post-exposure prophylaxis and successful treatment of rabies in humans (ToRRENT) (Euros 200,000; Group Leader).

Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC), Molecular Oncology 5 per mille: Molecular basis for triple negative breast cancer metastasis: new tools for diagnosis and therapy - Extension 2016-2017  (Euros 90,000; Group Leader).

Bando Progetti di Ricerca di Ateneo – 2015: SMARTACT: endowing CAR-expressing T cells with tools to overcome the PD-1 checkpoint (Euros 37,500; PI).

Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC), IG 2015: Adoptive T cell therapy of prostate tumors with CAR-redirected T cells capable of overcoming the PD-1 checkpoint (Euros 395,000; PI).