Sandro Matosevic

Active Mentor - currently hosting PULSe students for laboratory rotations and recruiting PULSe students into the laboratory; serves on preliminary exam committees

Current Research Interests:

The Matosevic Lab is focused on cancer immunotherapy for complex solid tumors. Genetically engineering immune cells - specifically, natural killer cells - enables us to reprogram them to more effectively avoid severe functional and metabolic immunosuppression induced by the microenvironment of tumors such as glioblastoma. Through immune cell and gene engineering, the lab focuses on developing new translational immunotherapies based on engineered natural killer cells. We study and develop tools to reprogram, control and direct their therapeutic behavior of and their interaction with the tumor microenvironment. We do so by combining approaches in cell and gene therapy, genetic engineering, immunology, nanotechnology and biomaterials. Projects in our lab are focused on (1) immunoengineering natural killer cells by genetically reprogramming their interaction with and targeting of solid tumors; (2) immunological understanding of the metabolic microenvironment of solid tumors and its suppression of healthy immune function; (3) developing translational tools for adoptive transfer of geneengineered immune cells into patients through cell therapy and cryoprervation.

Selected Publications:

Matosevic S. Viral and non-viral engineering of natural killer cells as emerging adoptive cancer immunotherapies. 2018. In press.

Pasley S, Zylberberg C, Matosevic S. Natural killer-92 cells maintain cytotoxic activity after long-term cryopreservation in new DMSO-free media. Immunology Letters, 2017, 192:35-41.

Zylberberg C, Gaskill K, Pasley S, Matosevic S. Engineering liposomal nanoparticles for targeted gene therapy. Gene Therapy, 2017, 24(8):441-452.

Zylberberg C and Matosevic S. Bioengineered liposome-scaffold composites as therapeutic delivery systems. Therapeutic Delivery, 2017, 8(6):425-445.

Zylberberg C and Matosevic S. Pharmaceutical liposomal drug delivery: a review of new delivery systems and a look at the regulatory landscape. Drug Delivery, 2016, 23(9):3319- 3329.

Knapinska A, Amar S, He Z, Matosevic S, Zylberberg C, Fields G. Matrix metalloproteinases as reagents for cell isolation. Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 2016, 93-94:29-43.

Matosevic S, Paegel BM. Layer-by-layer cell membrane assembly. Nature Chemistry, 2013, 5:958-963.

Matosevic S. State-of-the-art in the development of microfluidic technology toward the synthesis of artificial cells from giant unilamellar vesicles. BioEssays, 2012, 34(11):992-1001.

Matosevic S, Paegel BM. 2011. Stepwise synthesis of giant unilamellar lipid vesicles on a microfluidic assembly line. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2011, 133(9):2798-2800.

Matosevic S, Lye GJ, Baganz F. Immobilised enzyme microreactor for the quantification of multi-step bioconversions: Characterisation of a de novo transketolase-omega-transaminase pathway to synthesise chiral amino alcohols. Journal of Biotechnology, 2011, 155(3):320-329.