Humsa Venkatesh

Humsa Venkatesh made the groundbreaking discovery that neurons form bona fide electrochemical synapses with glioma cells, driving tumor growth through neuronal activity-dependent signaling via neuroligin-3 (NLGN3) and glutamatergic neurotransmission. Her work showed that NLGN3 is cleaved from active neurons by ADAM10 and acts as a mitogen for glioma cells, explaining why high-grade gliomas preferentially grow in electrically active brain regions. She has identified neural circuit mechanisms that promote brain tumor progression. Her discoveries have opened the new field of cancer neuroscience.