Neuro-Oncology Lab (Officer In charge Dr Vani Santosh)

Neuro-Oncology Lab (Officer In charge Dr Vani Santosh)

The Neuro-Oncology Lab has a keen interest in translational research in Neuro-Oncology. The focus of the lab has been tissue based research in adult and pediatric glial tumors. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent and most malignant primary brain tumor has been an important disease addressed at Neuro-Oncology lab. In collaboration with clinicians involved with care of glioblastoma patients, several molecular markers associated with patient prognosis have been identified as reflected in the publications arising from the lab. In addition to tissue based research, collaborations with core biological research institutes have promoted dissection of various pathways related to gliomagenesis.

Completed research activities include; studying the role of novel biomarkers; STAT-1,PP1A, MMPs and SOD2 in the pathogenesis and prognosis of glioblastoma, patho-biological characterization of WHO grade III gliomas, using various markers by techniques such as IHC, FISH and PCR studies. The lab has an established Tosuue microarray(TMA) facility. Researchers in the lab have built TMA blocks for several gliomas, meningiomas, medulloblastomas and IHC validations are being carried out on these TMA sections. The TMA facility is also being utilized by other institutes such as Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology(KMIO).

Ongoing research activities include; Evaluating the prognostic relevance of various molecules involved in possible radiation resistance such as NNMT, MELK, Osteopontin etc ,exploring the potential role of few of the molecules as a serum biomarker in GBM. To evaluate the role of the molecules associated with glioblastoma tumor invasion and recurrence the researchers have archived 28 cases of core and tumor periphery in glioblastoma, their histological characterization has been completed and further biological studies are ongoing. Other studies in the lab include relation between the Clinico-Pathological properties of meningiomas and their chromosomal deletion statuses as diagnosed by FISH studies and characterisation of novel biomarkers such as IMP3, SOX2, CSNK2-α, p65 on various tissue samples of glioblastoma. In addition , have phospho-proteomics work in Medulloblastoma in collaboration with I.O.B has been initiated.

The laboratory has just completed 2 major funded projects and currently has 4 ongoing funded projects (including one COE Grant) and 3 non funded projects. More than 30 researchers including PhD scholars, McH, MSc, B.Tech, M.Tech students and faculty from NIMHANS and other institutes (including students from Cornell University-USA) are currently using the lab facility. The researchers have received awards and international travel grants for the research carried out in the laboratory.

Students and project assistants working in neurooncology lab

Publications( 2013-2014)

1. Shukla S, Patric IR, Patil V, Shwetha SD, Hegde AS, Chandramouli BA, Arivazhagan A, Santosh V, Somasundaram K. Methylation Silencing of ULK2, An Autophagy Gene, is Essential for Astrocyte Transformation and Tumor Growth. J Biol Chem. 2014 Jun 12. pii: jbc.M114.567032. [Epub ahead of print]

2. Thota B, Arimappamagan A, Kandavel T, Shastry AH, Pandey P, Chandramouli BA, Hegde AS, Kondaiah P, Santosh V. STAT-1 expression is regulated by IGFBP-3 in malignant glioma cells and is a strong predictor of poor survival in patients with glioblastoma. J Neurosurg. 2014 May 30:1-10. [Epub ahead of print]

3. Sathiyabama D, Asha U, Shwetha SD, Thakkar R, Dil JS, Santosh V. Crooke’s cell adenoma of the pituitary: a histological, immunocytochemical, and electron microscopic study of a rare case. Neurol India. 2014 Mar-Apr;62(2):216-7. doi: 10.4103/0028-3886.132435. No abstract available. PMID:

4. Manoj N, Arivazhagan A, Bhat DI, Arvinda HR, Mahadevan A, Santosh V, Devi BI, Sampath S, Chandramouli BA. Stereotactic biopsy of brainstem lesions: Techniques, efficacy, safety, and disease variation between adults and children: A single institutional series and review. . J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2014 Jan;5(1):32-9. doi: 10.4103/0976-3147.127869.

5. Arya S, Majaid MA, Shwetha SD, Sravani K, Arivazhagan A, Sampath S, Santosh V. Implications of MGMT methylation status in pituitary adenoma. Pathol Res Pract. 2014 Jul;210(7):407-11. doi: 10.1016/j.prp.2014.02.010. Epub 2014 Mar 12. PMID:

7. Rao SA, Srinivasan S, Patric IR, Hegde AS, Chandramouli BA, Arimappamagan A, Santosh V, Kondaiah P, Rao MR, Somasundaram K. A 16-gene signature distinguishes anaplastic astrocytoma from glioblastoma. PLoS One. 2014 Jan 24;9(1):e85200. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085200. eCollection 2014. PMID:

8. Praveen Kumar VR, Sehgal P, Thota B, Patil S, Santosh V, Kondaiah P. Insulin like growth factor binding protein 4 promotes GBM progression and regulates key factors involved in EMT and invasion. J Neurooncol. 2014 Feb;116(3):455-64. doi: 10.1007/s11060-013-1324-y. Epub 2014 Jan 7. PMID:

9. Ambekar S, Ranjan M, Prasad C, Santosh V, Somanna S. Fourth ventricular ependymoma with a distant intraventricular metastasis: Report of a rare case. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2013 Aug;4(Suppl 1):S121-4. doi: 10.4103/0976-3147.116444. PMID:

10. Baldawa S, Kasegaonkar P, Vani S, Kelkar G. Primary intraventricular gliosarcoma. Clin Neuropathol. 2013 Nov-Dec;32(6):525-8. doi: 10.5414/NP300607. No abstract available. PMID:23557905 [PubMed – in process]

11. Naz S, Bashir M, Ranganathan P, Bodapati P, Santosh V, Kondaiah P. Protumorigenic actions of S100A2 involve regulation of PI3/Akt signaling and functional interaction with Smad3. Carcinogenesis. 2014 Oct 1. [Epub ahead of print]

12. Shukla S, Pia Patric IR, Thinagararjan S, Srinivasan S, Mondal B, Hegde AS, Chandramouli B A, Santosh V, Arivazhagan A, Somasundaram K. A DNA Methylation Prognostic Signature of Glioblastoma: Identification of NPTX2-PTEN-NF-κB Nexus. Cancer Res. 2013 Nov 15;73(22):6563-73. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-0298. Epub 2013 Sep 27

13. Ambekar S, Ranjan M, Prasad C, Santosh V, Somanna S. Fourth ventricular ependymoma with a distant intraventricular metastasis: Report of a rare case. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2013 Aug;4(Suppl 1):S121-4. doi: 10.4103/0976-3147.116444.

14. Madhugiri VS, Gundamaneni SK, Santosh V, Jagadisan B, Sasidharan GM, Roopesh-Kumar RV, Yadav AK, Singh M, Ananthakrishnan R, Pariarath N, Biswal N. Acute pyogenic necrotizing encephalomyelitis: a fulminant and fatal infection. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2013 May;11(5):591-5. doi: 10.3171/2013.2.PEDS12446. Epub 2013 Mar 15.

15. Rao SA, Arimappamagan A, Pandey P, Santosh V, Hegde AS, Chandramouli BA, Somasundaram K. miR-219-5p inhibits receptor tyrosine kinase pathway by targeting EGFR in glioblastoma. PLoS One. 2013 May 17;8(5):e63164. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063164. Print 2013.

16. Arimappamagan A, Somasundaram K, Thennarasu K, Peddagangannagari S, Srinivasan H, Shailaja BC, Samuel C, Patric IR, Shukla S, Thota B, Prasanna KV, Pandey P, Balasubramaniam A, Santosh V, Chandramouli BA, Hegde AS, Kondaiah P, Sathyanarayana Rao MR. A fourteen gene GBM prognostic signature identifies association of immune response pathway and mesenchymal subtype with high risk group. PLoS One. 2013 Apr 30;8(4):e62042. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062042. Print 2013.

17.Savitr Sastri BV, Arivazhagan A, Santosh V, Indiradevi B, Sampath S, Chandramouli BA. Clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical profile of central neurocytomas: An institutional series and literature review. Indian J Neurosurg 2013;2:154-61.