Francesca Margheri 

Francesca Margheri graduated in Biological Sciences (110/110 cum laude) at the University of Florence in 2002 and earned her PhD in Experimental and Clinical Oncology in 2006. She later completed a second‑level Master in Thrombosis and Hemostasis (2009) and a specialization in Clinical Biochemistry (2014). After postdoctoral fellowships supported by FIRC, Regione Toscana and Fondazione Veronesi, she is now a Tenure Track Researcher (RTT) at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences “Mario Serio”, University of Florence. Her research focuses on the uPA/uPAR system in tumor–microenvironment interactions, spanning tumor cell invasion, angiogenesis, and cellular senescence. She demonstrated uPAR involvement in replicative senescence and its modulation by polyphenols, and identified uPAR as a key regulator of the pro‑angiogenic activity of melanoma‑derived exosomes. Her recent research focuses on extracellular vesicles (EVs), showing that uPAR drives the pro‑angiogenic activity of melanoma‑derived exosomes, and that uPAR silencing (siRNA/CRISPR‑Cas9) abolishes exosome‑mediated capillary formation. Her current work investigates PD‑L1 membrane expression and exosomal PD‑L1, and how the uPA/uPAR/PAI‑1/LRP1 axis regulates PD‑L1 internalization. Building on evidence that PAI‑1 inhibition synergizes with immune checkpoint inhibitors, she is exploring strategies to block uPAR/LRP1‑mediated PD‑L1 endocytosis to enhance anti‑PD‑1/PD‑L1 immunotherapy by maintaining high surface PD‑L1 while reducing exosomal PD‑L1.