Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

The Gabrielle Rizzuto Lab

Gabrielle Rizzuto, MD, PhD

The Gabrielle Rizzuto lab investigates a long-standing question in immunology: what prevents maternal immune rejection of the placenta and fetus?

The immune system must be able to discriminate self from non-self. Pregnancy is a beautiful exception to the paradigm that non-self is immunogenic, since the maternal immune system does not reject the placenta and fetus. The placenta is the incredible organ that grows and invades into the maternal uterus to foster nutrient and gas exchange to the developing fetus. The maternal immune system is directly exposed to placental cells and their non-self proteins.

Our research is focused on figuring out the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie maternal immune tolerance of fetal and placenta proteins. Like the placenta, tumor cells also escape immune rejection despite tumor cell expression of altered-self proteins. Discovering mechanisms of fetomaternal tolerance will therefore provide a window for identifying innovative ways to make the immune system respond to tumors.

Research Projects

Publications

Rizzuto G, Erlebacher A. Trophoblast antigens, fetal blood cell antigens, and the paradox of fetomaternal tolerance. J Exp Med. 2022 May; 219(5): e20211515.

Rizzuto G, Brooks JF, Tuomivaara ST, McIntyre TI, Ma S, Rideaux J, Zikherman J, Fisher SJ, Erlebacher A. Establishment of fetomaternal tolerance through glycan-mediated B cell suppression. Nature. 2022; 603(7901): 497-502.

Hirschhorn D*, Warner AB*, Maniyar R, Chow A, Mangarin LMb, Cohen AD, Hamadene L, Rizzuto GA, Budhu S, Suek N, Liu C, Houghton AN, Merghoub T, Wolchok JD. Cyclophosphamide enhances the antitumor potency of GITR engagement by increasing oligoclonal cytotoxic T cell fitness. JCI Insight. 2021; Oct 22; 6(20): e151035.

Castel P, Dharmaiah S, Sale MJ, Messing S, Rizzuto G, Cuevas-Navarro A, Cheng A, Trnka MJ, Urisman A, Esposito D, Simanshu DK, McCormick F. RAS interaction with Sin1 is dispensable for mTORC2 assembly and activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2021 Aug 17; 118(33): e2103261118.

Ategeka J, Wasswa R, Olwoch P, Kakuru A, Natureeba P, Muehlenbachs A, Kamya MR, Dorsey G, Rizzuto G. The prevalence of histologic acute chorioamnionitis among HIV infected pregnant women in Uganda and its association with adverse birth outcomes. PLoS One. 2019; 14(4): e0215058.

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People

Gabrielle Rizzuto, MD, PhD

The Gabrielle Rizzuto lab investigates a long-standing question in immunology: what prevents maternal immune rejection of the placenta and fetus?
MD, Weill Cornell Medical College
PhD, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences