Caetano Reis e Sousa

Caetano Reis e Sousa has made fundamental contributions to understanding how conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) cross-present tumor antigens to CD8+ T cells, a process essential for anti-tumor immunity and immunotherapy response. His discovery of DNGR-1 as a receptor for dead cell debris that routes tumor antigens into the cross-presentation pathway has been pivotal. He has demonstrated that Batf3-dependent cDC1s are required for rejection of immunogenic tumors and response to checkpoint immunotherapy. His work has established cDC1 cross-presentation as a critical bottleneck in cancer immunity.