Professor Francesco Dell'Accio
Professor of Musculoskeletal Regenerative Medicine & Rheumatology
Centre: Experimental Medicine & Rheumatology
Email: f.dellaccio@qmul.ac.ukTelephone: +44(0) 20 7882 8204Twitter: @TheReGenLab
Profile
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4137-3770
Professor Dell’Accio is a clinical rheumatologist and a scientist whose interest is focused on regenerative medicine and osteoarthritis. He characterized the molecular cascade activated by injury to the articular cartilage and, starting from this screening, has identified several therapeutic targets that, in animal models, result in disease modification in osteoarthritis and in cartilage regeneration. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop pharmacological interventions to restore cartilage integrity and reduce pain in osteoarthritis and cartilage defects.
Research
Group members
- Senior members: Prof Shafaq Sikandar (Senior Lecturer); Dr Suzanne Eldridge (Lecturer)
- Junior members: Dr Anne-Sophie Thorup; Dr Magdalena Kaneva; Mr Jacob Wilson (Technician); Dr Manasi Sayilakshmy (Research Assistant); Dr Sara Caxaria (post-doc); Ms Petek Celik, (Research Assistant); Dr Alice Fuller, (Post-doc).
- PhD students: Ms Aida Barawi (PhD student); Ms Sabah Bharde (PhD student); Ms Melody Deniz (PhD student); Dr Brian Herath (Clinical PhD Fellow)
- Alumni: Dr Suzanne Eldridge; Dr Noha Eltawil; Dr Giovanna Nalesso; Professor Jessica Bertrand; Dr Joanna Sherwood; Dr Bethan Thomas; Dr Blandine Poulet
Summary
Professor Dell’Accio and his group investigate the molecular mechanisms that underpin the healing of skeletal tissues, and in particular to cartilage, with the ultimate aim of identifying possible therapeutic intervention to promote cartilage healing/supporting cartilage homeostasis in diseases such as isolated cartilage defects and osteoarthritis. Professor Dell’Accio’s group identified a distinct signalling response of adult human articular cartilage to mechanical injury. Individual signalling molecules and pathways identified by this screening are being tested in vitro and in vivo for their function in cartilage biology and joint surface repair. In vivo models include surgical models of osteoarthritis and cartilage injury/regeneration developed in our laboratory. He is now exploring the biological function of such mechanisms for cartilage homeostasis how we can exploit them to protect cartilage from degradation in arthritis. Working in close collaboration with Dr S Sikandar, he is exploring the mechanisms of pain in osteoarthritis.
Publications
-
Sambale M, Lively S, Espin-Garcia O et al. (2024). TRPC1 links calcium signaling to cellular senescence in the protection against post-traumatic osteoarthritis. nameOfConference
-
Thomas BL, Montero‐Melendez T, Oggero S et al. (2024). Molecular Determinants of Neutrophil Extracellular Vesicles That Drive Cartilage Regeneration in Inflammatory Arthritis. nameOfConference
DOI: 10.1002/art.42958
-
Dajas-Bailador F, Chapman V, Lucci C et al. (2024). 069 INTRA-ARTICULAR ADMINISTRATION OF AGRIN INDUCES RAPID AND SUSTAINED PAIN RELIEF IN OSTEOARTHRITIS. nameOfConference
-
Asgarian R, Schäfer A, Gronewold R et al. (2024). 645 FUNCTIONAL INTERACTION OF CXCR2 AND β1-INTEGRIN SIGNALING IN THE REGULATION OF CARTILAGE HOMEOSTASIS. nameOfConference
-
Richter E, Lohmann CH, Dell’Accio F et al. (publicationYear). Sortilin Is Upregulated in Osteoarthritis-Dependent Cartilage Calcification and Associated with Cellular Senescence. nameOfConference
-
Dell'Accio F, De Bari C (2023). Towards disease modification in osteoarthritis. nameOfConference
QMRO: qmroHref -
Caxaria S, Bharde S, Fuller AM et al. (2023). Neutrophils infiltrate sensory ganglia and mediate chronic widespread pain in fibromyalgia. nameOfConference
-
Caxaria S, Kouvatsos N, Eldridge SE et al. (2022). Disease modification and symptom relief in osteoarthritis using a mutated GCP-2/CXCL6 chemokine. nameOfConference
-
Thorup A-S, Dell’Accio F, Eldridge SE (2023). A Mouse Model of Acute Cartilage Injury and Repair. nameOfConference
Collaborators
Internal
- Dr Michele Bombardieri
- Professor Mauro Perretti
- Dr Panos Kabouridis
External
- Dr Tonia Vincent (Oxford)
- Dr George Bou-Gharios (Oxford)
- Professor Thomas Pap (Muenster, Germany)
- Professor Georg Schett (Erlangen, Germany)
- Professor Cosimo De Bari (Aberdeen)
- Professor Andrew McMahon (Harvard, US)
News
September 2020
- Regrowing knee cartilage: new animal studies show promise (The Conversation)
- BBC Radio 5 Live interview (14:38)
- Agrin induces long term osteochondral regeneration by supporting repair morphogenesis (Science Translational Medicine)
- ROR2 blockade as a therapy for osteoarthritis (Science Translational Medicine)