The Venkatesh Lab

Exciting time to be in Cancer Neuroscience! Thank you to The Transmitter for featuring our lab's work.

Please join us on 10/3 at 3pm at the Shaw-Roxbury Branch of the @bpl.boston.gov! All ages welcome!

Great to see all our student's shine at the @cshlnews.bsky.social's Biology of Cancer: Microenvironment & Metastasis meeting! Props to Rachel Davis & Hannah Farnsworth for a job well done on their poster presentations. Very proud of all our hardworking future PhDs!

Wired for growth: neuron–tumour signalling in the lung and brain increases growth of a hard-to-treat cancer Signalling between neurons and tumour cells in the lung and brain promotes the growth of small-cell lung cancer. These interactions might be a therapeutic target.

Signalling between neurons and tumour cells in the lung and brain promotes the growth of small-cell lung cancer

go.nature.com/4gzoMmI

So proud of Lexi Franklin, who delivered an outstanding talk at @cshlnews.bsky.social’s Biology of Cancer: Microenvironment & Metastasis meeting yesterday! Keep an eye out for more exciting work from our lab, Rachel Davis and Hannah Farnsworth will be presenting their posters soon!

Grateful for generous support from
The Charles Hood Foundation
The Sontag Foundation
The ChadTough Foundation

Functional synapses between neurons and small cell lung cancer - Nature Small cell lung cancer cells form functional synapses with glutamatergic neurons, receiving synaptic transmissions and deriving a proliferative advantage from these interactions.

Happy to share that fantastic, complementary studies done by Filippo Beleggia and Christian Reinhardt similarly found SCLC cells utilize glutamatergic signaling to promote tumor growth www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In an effort to drive our work towards clinical translation, we treated SCLC brain allografts with Levetiracetam, and observed a decrease in tumor proliferation and tumor volume, highlighting the potential of therapeutic targeting neuron-SCLC interactions.

SCLC cells exhibit a reciprocal effect on neurons and contribute to their hyperexcitability, further driving neuron-SCLC interactions.

Direct SCLC cell membrane depolarization is sufficient to promote the growth of SCLC tumors.

#SCLC cells in the brain co-opt neuronal activity-regulated mechanisms to promote growth and progression. Optogenetic stimulation of cortical neuronal activity via both glutamatergic and GABAergic circuits drives proliferation and invasion of SCLC.

In collaboration with the phenomenal electrophysiologist Wengang Wang and Bernardo Sabatini we demonstrate that SCLC cells exhibit electrical currents and consequent calcium transients in response to neuronal activity.

Using SCLC brain allograft model, we discover bona fide neuron-to-synapses SCLC, for the first time for tumors of non-CNS origin.

We demonstrate that a population of #SCLC cells upregulates synaptic genes when exposed to neurons in activity-dependent manner. With @BizarMd team we further show overexpression of synaptic signature in patients with SCLC #brain metastasis compared to #SCLC lesions outside the brain.

We found #vagus nerve transection starkly inhibits primary SCLC tumor formation in the lung, highlighting a critical role for innervation in SCLC initiation & progression. Shout out to pulmonary biologists Yin Liu & Mark Krasnow, and SCLC experts @juliensage.bsky.social and Fangfei Qu!

Neurons and nerves regulate progression of several tumor types both in and outside of the central nervous system, but the extent to which the nervous system regulates lung cancer progression, either in the lung or when metastatic to brain, had yet to be explored.

This 6-year effort was co-led by Sol Savchuck (@stanfordmedicine.bsky.social & @mgbneurosurgres.bsky.social) and Kaylee Gentry @itsybitsyfitc.bsky.social (@mgbresearch.bsky.social Neurology). Tweetorial written by Sol Savchuck!

Neuronal activity-dependent mechanisms of small cell lung cancer pathogenesis - Nature Glutamatergic and GABAergic (γ-aminobutyric acid-producing) cortical neuronal activity drives proliferation of small lung cell cancer via paracrine interactions and through synapses formed with tumour...

We are excited to share the Venkatesh Lab’s first publication in collaboration with @michellemonje.bsky.social team uncovering how neuronal activity influences the progression of small cell lung cancer #SCLC in the lung and brain. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Neuronal activity-dependent mechanisms of small cell lung cancer pathogenesis - Nature Glutamatergic and GABAergic (γ-aminobutyric acid-producing) cortical neuronal activity drives proliferation of small lung cell cancer via paracrine interactions and through synapses formed with tumour...

Check out the Venkatesh lab's new paper in Nature, where we uncover how neural activity drives small cell lung cancer (SCLC) progression. Grateful to my PI Humsa Venkatesh, my co-first author Solomiia Savchuk, & a huge thanks to all the incredible co-authors.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The cancer hijacking story expands.....
2 new reports of small cell lung cancer provide evidence for hijacking of neurons, formation of synapses, to promote tumor growth. May help to come up with therapies for this very aggressive, fatal form of cancer
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Jacqueline is interested in applying these imaging and viral tools in the context of glioblastoma, with the goal of understanding how glial signaling impacts tumor progression and broader neural circuitry.

Her dissertation research focused on how astrocytes modulate neuronal activity and contribute to brain function in the healthy and injured brain, using advanced imaging approaches such as iGluSnFR glutamate sensors and Genetically Encoded Voltage Indicators (GEVIs).

We are excited to welcome Jacqueline Garcia to the Venkatesh Lab! Jacqueline completed her PhD in Cellular, Molecular, & Developmental Biology at Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2025 as a member of Dr. Chris Dulla’s lab.

The Neuroscience of Cancer

Scientists are making surprising discoveries about the connections between cancer and the nervous system. Harvard Medicine Magazine profiles the research of William Hwang, Richard Wong, and @venkatesh-lab.bsky.social.
@harvardmed.bsky.social
magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/neu...

The Venkatesh Lab is looking for a Sr. Lab Technician to help support ongoing projects focused on the peripheral nervous system & its interactions with cancers. Check out the posting below!

massgeneralbrigham.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/MGBExt...

The lab is celebrating Hannah Hoffman for a job well done and for passing her Preliminary Qualifying Exam! 🎇Congratulations Hannah!

#standupforscience Boston! @venkatesh-lab.bsky.social

Do you have a background in cancer research or neuroscience? The Venkatesh Lab is expanding its team & seeking talented individuals at all levels. If you're passionate about cutting-edge research at the intersection of cancer and neuroscience, we'd love to hear from you!

Thanks to the efforts of our ephys scientist, Garrett Scarpa, and Scientifica, the Venkatesh lab has our ephys rig up and running!

Poster for EACR conference on Cancer Neuroscience on 14-16 October, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain featuring various speakers.

SAVE THE DATE

Discuss the interactions between the nervous system and cancer in our first @helloeacr.bsky.social conference on #CancerNeuroscience next year!

🗓️ Oct. 14-16, 2025
📍Bilbao, Spain

📥 Abstracts due June 30, 2025
📥 Register by Sept. 15, 2025

For more info, visit eacr.org/conference/c...