The organizing committee of the UNITE conference would like to thank all speakers for their excellent presentations and all participants for the valuable discussions. @wickwolfgang.bsky.social @michael-platten.bsky.social

The second day of the UNITE conference. Today there will also be a contribution from a patient on the book “Alles gut? Alles gut.” by Marlene Assmann. www.jacobystuart.de/buecher-von-...

Spotlight @svenjaktetzlaff.bsky.social, @venkataramanilab.bsky.social et al @cp-cell.bsky.social paper: Disrupting neuron-tumor networking connections by C.-E. Shen, A. Echeandía Marrero, Yuan Pan at @mdanderson.bsky.social http://dlvr.it/TJfRwt

#Cancer research needs #neuroscience and neuroscientists. Sharing some thoughts on #CancerNeuroscience, together with Frank Winkler. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It was my pleasure to write a Preview of the paper www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... together with @venkataramanilab.bsky.social ! 🧠 #cancerneuroscience #glioblastoma The preview is now online @cp-neuron.bsky.social 👇

We are thrilled to welcome #thebrainprize2025 winner Prof. Winkler @winklerlab.bsky.social as a speaker on #cancerneuroscience at the UNITE Conference 2025! Join us on May 14-15, 2025, in Heidelberg, Germany! 📢 Register now and submit your abstracts here: www.unite-glioblastoma.de/unite-confer...

Enjoy the early bird rate with 25 Euros discount on the registration fee until January 31st! Abstract submission deadline: February 23rd.

🤯 Glioblastoma tumours form connections with neurons, driving their own progression! 😱 The lab of my good friend @venkataramanilab.bsky.social back from the days at Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e.V. just dropped that screamer of a paper! 1/3

🕸️ This study maps glioblastoma’s integration into neural circuits using rabies-virus tracing, revealing neuron-tumour networks as key therapeutic targets. 🗞️ The paper by @svenjaktetzlaff.bsky.social et al. is out now in @cp-cell.bsky.social 🔗 www.cell.com/cell/fu... 🧪 🔓 3/3

🎉Es ist ein Riesenprivileg, wenn man mit so leistungsstarken und kreativen Wissenschaftler:innen wie @svenjatetzlaff.bsky.social und @venkataramanilab.bsky.social zusammenarbeiten darf. Der Schritt pathologische Netzwerke in Hirntumoren als Routen für Therapie zu explorieren,ist hochinnovativ.

🧪🧵🔬🔥Amazing microscopy here from the Venkataramani lab!

Great to see the study published! Congrats to all co-authors and thanks very much for having us @juliosaezrod.bsky.social @saezlab.bsky.social on the team. A nice example of how the @aihcluster.bsky.social makes new collaborations possible.

Beautiful work & insightful BlueSkytorial by @venkataramanilab.bsky.social. Using modified rabies viruses, they show that glioblastoma tumor cells rapidly make connections with neurons & these interactions represent targetable vulnerabilities that could open therapeutic avenues for brain cancers.

🔥 Characterizing and targeting glioblastoma neuron-tumor networks with retrograde tracing: Beautiful work by @venkataramanilab.bsky.social, congratulations !! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Important #cancerneuroscience work from the amazing @venkataramanilab.bsky.social and as shared first @svenjaktetzlaff.bsky.social and @ekinreyhan.bsky.social ! Check it out 👇

Fantastic work by the amazing @svenjaktetzlaff.bsky.social , @ekinreyhan.bsky.social and the @venkataramanilab.bsky.social !! Important and beautiful study 🤩 and I am happy and honored to have played a small part in it!

Thrilled to share our latest work on how glioblastoma integrates into brain-wide networks using rabies-mediated retrograde tracing!🧠 So grateful to have been part of such a big team effort! @svenjaktetzlaff.bsky.social @venkataramanilab.bsky.social

🌟 Interested in joining our team? We're hiring at all levels - from research technicians, MD and PhD students to postdocs. Contact: [email protected] 15/15

We are incredibly grateful for the patients, their families and the funding agencies for enabling this research!

Sonja Hänzelmann, @matthiakarreman.bsky.social, Felix Kurz, Manuel Schröter, Marc Thieeir, Abigail Suwala, Karin Forsberg-Nilsson, Claudio Acuna, @saezlab.bsky.social , Amir Abdollahi, Felix Sahm, Michael Breckwoldt, Bogdana Suchorska, Franz Ricklefs, Dieter Henrik Heiland

@atefehpourkhalili.bsky.social @ninadrewa.bsky.social @afaymonville.bsky.social ville.bsky.social @ekeifert.bsky.social eifert.bsky.social, Julia Wagner, @stellasoyka.bsky.social @marccschubert.bsky.social @nirosansivapalan.bsky.social

So proud of the shared first authors @ekinreyhan.bsky.social sky.social @svenjaktetzlaff.bsky.social etzlaff.bsky.social and the entire team of amazing collaborators @layern.bsky.social Peter Bengtson, Alina Heuer, @julianschroers.bsky.social @afaymonville.bsky.social

🔗 This research showcases the importance of bespoke methods development for Cancer Neuroscience, how it will advance our understanding of (brain) cancer circuits and the development of novel therapeutics for yet incurable tumors. 14/15

📊 Beyond just mapping, this work provides new therapeutic targets and a platform for testing treatments against these aggressive brain tumors. 13/15

🦠 Lastly, modified rabies viruses to disconnect tumor-connected neurons from brain tumor cells offer a potential novel therapeutic approach. 12/15

💊 This led us to combine radiation with drugs that reduce neuronal activity. The combination proved more effective at treating tumors than either approach alone. 10/15

📡 Radiation therapy revealed something unexpected: It increased neuronal activity and subsequently connections between neurons and tumor cells. 9/15

🔍 A key discovery was the role of cholinergic neurons connected to glioblastoma cells: blocking their communication pathway slowed cortical tumor growth. 8/15

🧬 Using single-cell RNA sequencing and a functional neurotransmitter receptor screening, we found tumor cells express receptors for multiple neurotransmitters. This allows them to receive signals from many different types of neurons. 7/15

🌐 These weren't just local connections. The tumor cells established networks with neurons across different brain regions and even between hemispheres across large distances, showing remarkable integration. 5/15

⚡️ The timeline surprised us: Tumor cells formed functional connections with neurons very quickly with neurons within hours in culture and just days in the brain- much earlier than previously known and expected. 4/15

🔬 Our approach used the infection of tumor cells with a modified rabies virus that can only jump once to a directly connected neuron. When a neuron connects to a tumor cell, it lights up, creating a precise map of their connectome. 3/15

🧪 How do brain tumors communicate with neurons? We developed a tracing system using modified rabies viruses to map these connections across the entire brain, revealing unexpected complexity. 2/15

So happy this is finally out😊 thank you for the amazing supervision @venkataramanilab.bsky.social, to the best partner-in-crime @ekinreyhan.bsky.social and everyone who contributed, such a team effort!🧠🔬

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... from the immensely talented Venkataramani group, essential work for cancer neuroscience.

The Venkataramani lab had an incredible time at #SNO2024! Very proud of Ekin Reyhan presenting our work during the Plenary Session, and so proud of Svenja Tetzlaff @svenjaktetzlaff.bsky.social & Julia Wagner for their poster presentations. Can’t wait for next year’s conference in Hawaii!