Contact Details:

f.dellaccio@qmul.ac.uk

Francesco Dell'Accio obtained his MD and specialized in Rheumatology in the University of Bari (Italy). In 2003 he obtained his PhD in the Laboratory of Skeletal Development and Joint Disorder, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, under the mentoring of Professor FP Luyten. During his PhD training he studied the molecular basis of the phenotypic stability of articular chondrocytes. He raised and addressed a need for an efficacy quality control for preparation of expanded autologous chondrocytes to be used for autologous chondrocyte transplantation. He developed an in vivo potency assay to measure the capacity of such cell preparation to form stable cartilage in vivo and linked the outcome of this assay to molecular markers (Dell'Accio et al. Arthritis Rheum. 2001). Besides the peer review publications, this technology allowed to develop a quality controlled, IP-protected cellular preparation of autologous chondrocytes for autologous implantation. This represented the platform technology for the generation of a spin-off company of the University of Leuven (Tigenix NV, Leuven, Belgium). The resulting cell product was then tested in a phase III clinical trial, and commercialized. 

In 2003 he was actively recruited by Professor Pitzalis to King's College London where he was awarded an ARC Clinician Scientist Fellowship. In 2007 he moved, together with Professor Pitzalis, to the William Harvey Research Institute with a Career Progression Fellowship awarded by the Arthritis Research Campaign and was appointed Senior Lecturer with Honorary Consultant status. He carries out his scientific activity within the Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology  directed by Professor Pitzalis at the Charterhouse campus, John Vane Centre, and his clinical activity at the Mile End Hospital.

He is a member of Faculty of 1000 since 2010.

 

Current research interests

Dr Dell'Accio's research focus is cartilage biology and the biological repair/regeneration of adult articular cartilage. The findings that progenitor cells persist within adult synovial joints and in adult articular cartilage (Dell'Accio et al. Exp Cell Res. 2003) and that the injured adult human articular cartilage deploys an early signalling response including modulation of the WNT and BMP signalling pathways (Dell'Accio et al. Arthr. Res. Ther. 2006) suggests that repair mechanisms persist in the adult joints. His current research is therefore focussed on the unravelling of the molecular signalling triggered by injury to the articular cartilage and playing a role in the repair mechanisms. A high throughput screening by microarrays has revealed an important signalling response of adult human articular cartilage to mechanical injury. Individual signalling molecules and signalling 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 (destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) or a novel model of mechanical cartilage injury and regeneration developed in our laboratory. His group have recently discovered that WNT molecules can signal simultaneously through multiple, reciprocally inhibitory pathways, with distinctive outcomes (Nalesso et al. J Cell Biol 2011). He is now exploring on one hand the biological function of such mechanism for cartilage homeostasis, and on the other hand how we can exploit it to protect cartilage from degradation in arthritis.

Key publications

 

• WNT-3A modulates articular chondrocyte phenotype by activating both canonical and noncanonical pathways. Nalesso G, Sherwood J, Bertrand J, Pap T, Ramachandran M, De Bari C, Pitzalis C, Dell'accio F. J Cell Biol. 2011 May 2;193(3):551-64. F1000 score: must read. Commentary in Generating a Wnt switch: it's all about the right dosage. Kestler HA, Kühl M. J Cell Biol. 2011 May 2;193(3):431-3.

• Functional mesenchymal stem cell niches in the adult knee joint synovium in vivo. Kurth TB, Dell'accio F, Crouch V, Augello A, Sharpe PT, De Bari C. Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Jan 11. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 21226037 (F1000 score: must read).
  
  
• Joint surface defects: clinical course and cellular response in spontaneous and experimental lesions. Dell'accio F, Vincent TL. Eur Cell Mater. 2010 Sep 28;20:210-7. Review. PMID: 20878619.
  
  
• Human single-chain variable fragment that specifically targets arthritic cartilage. Hughes C, Faurholm B, Dell'Accio F, Manzo A, Seed M, Eltawil N, Marrelli A, Gould D, Subang C, Al-Kashi A, De Bari C, Winyard P, Chernajovsky Y, Nissim A. Arthritis Rheum. 2010 Apr;62(4):1007-16. PMID: 20131274.
  
  
• Distinct mesenchymal progenitor cell subsets in the adult human synovium. Karystinou A, Dell'Accio F, Kurth TB, Wackerhage H, Khan IM, Archer CW, Jones EA, Mitsiadis TA, De Bari C. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2009 Sep;48(9):1057-64. Epub 2009 Jul 14. PMID: 19605375.
  
  
• A novel in vivo murine model of cartilage regeneration. Age and strain-dependent outcome after joint surface injury. Eltawil NM, De Bari C, Achan P, Pitzalis C, Dell'accio F. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2009 Jun;17(6):695-704. Epub 2008 Nov 13. PMID: 19070514 (F1000 score: must read).
  
  
• Mature antigen-experienced T helper cells synthesize and secrete the B cell chemoattractant CXCL13 in the inflammatory environment of the rheumatoid joint. Manzo A, Vitolo B, Humby F, Caporali R, Jarrossay D, Dell'accio F, Ciardelli L, Uguccioni M, Montecucco C, Pitzalis C. Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Nov;58(11):3377-87. PMID: 18975336.
  
  
• Comparative osteogenic transcription profiling of various fetal and adult mesenchymal stem cell sources. Guillot PV, De Bari C, Dell'Accio F, Kurata H, Polak J, Fisk NM. Differentiation. 2008 Nov;76(9):946-57. Epub 2008 Jun 13. PMID: 18557767.
  
  
• Dell'accio F, De Bari C, Eltawil NM, Vanhummelen P, Pitzalis C. Identification of the molecular response of articular cartilage to injury, by microarray screening: Wnt-16 expression and signaling after injury and in osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2008 May;58(5):1410-21. PMID: 18438861 [PubMed ]
  
  
• Dell'Accio F, De Bari C, Mitziadis T, Barone F, Pitzalis C. Activation of the WNT and BMP signaling in the adult human articular cartilage following mechanical injury. Arthritis Res Ther. 2006 Aug 7;8(5):R139
  
  
• De Bari C, Dell'accio F, Vanlauwe J, Eyckmans J, Khan IM, Archer CW, Jones EA, McGonagle D, Mitsiadis TA, Pitzalis C, Luyten FP. Related Articles, Mesenchymal multipotency of adult human periosteal cells demonstrated by single-cell lineage analysis. Arthritis Rheum. 2006 Mar 30;54(4):1209-1221.
  
  
• De Bari C, Dell'Accio F, Luyten FP: Failure of in vitro-differentiated mesenchymal stem cells from the synovial membrane to form ectopic stable cartilage in vivo. Arthritis and Rheumatism 2004; 50(1):142-150.
  
  
• Dell'Accio F, De Bari C, and Luyten FP. Microenvironment and phenotypic stability specify tissue formation by human articular cartilage-derived cells in vivo. Experimental Cell Research 2003; 287(1):16-27. 
  
• De Bari C, Dell'Accio F, vandenabeele F, Vermeesch JR, Raymackers JM, and Luyten FP. Skeletal muscle repair by adult human mesenchymal stem cells from synovial membrane. Journal of Cell Biology 2003 Mar 17;160(6):909-18
  
  
• Dell'Accio F. Vanlauwe J, Bellemans J, Neys J, De Bari C, and Luyten F. Expanded phenotypically stable chondrocytes persist in the repair tissue and contribute to cartilage matrix formation and structural integration in a goat model of autologous chondrocyte implantation. J. Othop. Res. 2003 21(1):41-8.
  
  
• Dell'Accio F, De Bari C, Luyten FP.  Molecular markers predictive of the capacity of expanded human articular chondrocytes to form stable cartilage in vivo. Arthritis Rheum. 2001 Jul;44(7):1608-19.
  
  
• De Bari C, Dell'Accio F, Tylzanowski P, Luyten FP. Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells from adult human synovial membrane. Arthritis Rheum. 2001 Aug;44(8):1928-42.

 

 

 

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