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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Amy Heimberger Lab

Publications

Learn more about the work we do in the Heimberger laboratory through our recent publications.

  1. Khalili BF, Dixit K, Kamson DO, Horbinski C, Przybyla DJ, Tate MC, Heimberger AB, Lukas RV, Templer JW  The excitatory milieu in glioma: mechanisms and therapeutic avenues.  Neuro Oncol  2025 Apr 18;. pii:noaf063
  2. Hung CY, Kang EY, Jacek K, Yu C, Zhang X, Zhu Y, Aftabizadeh M, Wong RA, Badie B, Swiderski P  et al.  Multimodal glioma immunotherapy combining TLR9-targeted STAT3 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides with PD1 immune checkpoint blockade.  Neuro Oncol  2025 Apr 11;. pii:noaf099
  3. Young JS, Cho NW, Lucas CG, Najem H, Mirchia K, Chen WC, Seo K, Zakimi N, Daggubati V, Casey-Clyde T  et al.  IL-6 underlies microenvironment immunosuppression and resistance to therapy in glioblastoma.  bioRxiv  2025 Mar 14;. pii:2025.03.12.642800
  4. Pedder JH, Sonabend AM, Cearns MD, Michael BD, Zakaria R, Heimberger AB, Jenkinson MD, Dickens D  Crossing the blood-brain barrier: emerging therapeutic strategies for neurological disease.  Lancet Neurol  2025 Mar;24(3):246-260. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00476-9
  5. Najem H, Pacheco S, Turunen J, Tripathi S, Steffens A, McCortney K, Walshon J, Chandler J, Stupp R, Lesniak MS  et al.  High Dimensional Proteomic Multiplex Imaging of the Central Nervous System Using the COMET™ System.  bioRxiv  2025 Feb 19;. pii:2025.02.14.638299
  6. Du R, Zhang J, Lukas RV, Tripathi S, Ahrendsen JT, Curran MA, Dmello C, Zhang P, Stupp R, Rao G  et al.  Is modulation of immune checkpoints on glioblastoma-infiltrating myeloid cells a viable therapeutic strategy?  Neuro Oncol  2025 Jan 12;27(1):33-49. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noae193
  7. Baskaran AB, Kozel OA, Venkatesh O, Wainwright DA, Sonabend AM, Heimberger AB, Lukas RV  Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Glioblastoma IDHwt Treatment: A Systematic Review.  Cancers (Basel)  2024 Dec 12;16(24). pii:4148
  8. Gupta P, Dang M, Oberai S, Migliozzi S, Trivedi R, Kumar G, Peshoff M, Milam N, Ahmed A, Bojja K  et al.  Immune landscape of isocitrate dehydrogenase-stratified primary and recurrent human gliomas.  Neuro Oncol  2024 Dec 05;26(12):2239-2255. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noae139
  9. Kim KS, Habashy K, Gould A, Zhao J, Najem H, Amidei C, Saganty R, Arrieta VA, Dmello C, Chen L  et al.  Fc-enhanced anti-CTLA-4, anti-PD-1, doxorubicin, and ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening: A novel combinatorial immunotherapy regimen for gliomas.  Neuro Oncol  2024 Nov 04;26(11):2044-2060. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noae135
  10. Choudhury A, Cady MA, Lucas CG, Najem H, Phillips JJ, Palikuqi B, Zakimi N, Joseph T, Birrueta JO, Chen WC  et al.  Perivascular NOTCH3+ Stem Cells Drive Meningioma Tumorigenesis and Resistance to Radiotherapy.  Cancer Discov  2024 Oct 04;14(10):1823-1837. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-23-1459
  11. Hotchkiss KM, Karschnia P, Schreck KC, Geurts M, Cloughesy TF, Huse J, Duke ES, Lathia J, Ashley DM, Nduom EK  et al.  A brave new framework for glioma drug development.  Lancet Oncol  2024 Oct;25(10):e512-e519. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00190-6
  12. Liu Y, Wu J, Najem H, Lin Y, Pang L, Khan F, Zhou F, Ali H, Heimberger AB, Chen P  Dual targeting macrophages and microglia is a therapeutic vulnerability in models of PTEN-deficient glioblastoma.  J Clin Invest  2024 Oct 01;134(22). pii:e178628
  13. Wang S, Castro BA, Katz JL, Arrieta V, Najem H, Vazquez-Cervantes GI, Wan H, Olson IE, Hou D, Dapash M  et al.  B cell-based therapy produces antibodies that inhibit glioblastoma growth.  J Clin Invest  2024 Aug 29;134(20). pii:e177384
  14. Tripathi S, Najem H, Dussold C, Pacheco S, Du R, Sooreshjani M, Hurley L, Chandler JP, Stupp R, Sonabend AM  et al.  Pediatric glioma immune profiling identifies TIM3 as a therapeutic target in BRAF fusion pilocytic astrocytoma.  J Clin Invest  2024 Aug 13;134(19). pii:e177413
  15. Najem H, Pacheco S, Kowal J, Winkowski D, Burks JK, Heimberger AB  Protocol to quantify immune cell distribution from the vasculature to the glioma microenvironment on sequential immunofluorescence multiplex images.  STAR Protoc  2024 Jun 21;5(2):103079. pii:103079
  16. Najem H, Lea ST, Tripathi S, Hurley L, Chen CH, William I, Sooreshjani M, Bowie M, Hartley G, Dussold C  et al.  STING agonist 8803 reprograms the immune microenvironment and increases survival in preclinical models of glioblastoma.  J Clin Invest  2024 Jun 17;134(12). pii:e175033
  17. Lucas CG, Mirchia K, Seo K, Najem H, Chen WC, Zakimi N, Foster K, Eaton CD, Cady MA, Choudhury A  et al.  Spatial genomic, biochemical and cellular mechanisms underlying meningioma heterogeneity and evolution.  Nat Genet  2024 Jun;56(6):1121-1133. doi:10.1038/s41588-024-01747-1
  18. Du R, Tripathi S, Najem H, Brat DJ, Lukas RV, Zhang P, Heimberger AB  Glioblastoma Phagocytic Cell Death: Balancing the Opportunities for Therapeutic Manipulation.  Cells  2024 May 11;13(10). pii:823
  19. Ene CI, Abi Faraj C, Beckham TH, Weinberg JS, Andersen CR, Haider AS, Rao G, Ferguson SD, Alvarez-Brenkenridge CA, Kim BYS  et al.  Response of treatment-naive brain metastases to stereotactic radiosurgery.  Nat Commun  2024 May 02;15(1):3728. pii:3728
  20. Trybula SJ, Youngblood MW, Karras CL, Murthy NK, Heimberger AB, Lukas RV, Sachdev S, Kalapurakal JA, Chandler JP, Brat DJ  et al.  The Evolving Classification of Meningiomas: Integration of Molecular Discoveries to Inform Patient Care.  Cancers (Basel)  2024 Apr 30;16(9). pii:1753
  21. Kudruk S, Forsyth CM, Dion MZ, Hedlund Orbeck JK, Luo J, Klein RS, Kim AH, Heimberger AB, Mirkin CA, Stegh AH  et al.  Multimodal neuro-nanotechnology: Challenging the existing paradigm in glioblastoma therapy.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A  2024 Feb 20;121(8):e2306973121. pii:e2306973121
  22. Tripathi S, Najem H, Dussold C, Pacheco S, Miska J, McCortney K, Steffens A, Walshon J, Winkowski D, Cloney M  et al.  Cancer-associated fibroblast-secreted collagen is associated with immune inhibitor receptor LAIR1 in gliomas.  J Clin Invest  2024 Feb 15;134(4). pii:e176613
  23. Hou D, Wan H, Katz JL, Wang S, Castro BA, Vazquez-Cervantes GI, Arrieta VA, Dhiantravan S, Najem H, Rashidi A  et al.  Antigen-presenting B cells promote TCF-1+ PD1- stem-like CD8+ T-cell proliferation in glioblastoma.  Front Immunol  2023;14:1295218. pii:1295218
  24. Tripathi S, Nathan CL, Tate MC, Horbinski CM, Templer JW, Rosenow JM, Sita TL, James CD, Deneen B, Miller SD  et al.  The immune system and metabolic products in epilepsy and glioma-associated epilepsy: emerging therapeutic directions.  JCI Insight  2024 Jan 09;9(1). pii:e174753
  25. Najem H, Arrieta VA, Duffy J, Tripathi S, Zannikou M, Dhiantravan S, Miska J, McCortney K, Steffens A, Walshon J  et al.  Prohibitin Expression in Antigen-Presenting Cells: Implications for Inciting Trigger in CNS IgG4-Related Disease.  Ann Case Rep  2024;9(1). pii:1607
  26. Fares J, Petrosyan E, Kanojia D, Dmello C, Cordero A, Duffy JT, Yeeravalli R, Sahani MH, Zhang P, Rashidi A  et al.  Metixene is an incomplete autophagy inducer in preclinical models of metastatic cancer and brain metastases.  J Clin Invest  2023 Dec 15;133(24). pii:e161142
  27. McCord M, Jamshidi P, Thirunavu V, Santana-Santos L, Vormittag-Nocito E, Dittman D, Parker S, Baczkowski J, Jennings L, Walshon J  et al.  Variant allelic frequencies of driver mutations can identify gliomas with potentially false-negative MGMT promoter methylation results.  Acta Neuropathol Commun  2023 Nov 02;11(1):175. pii:175
  28. Heimberger AB, Tripathi S, Platanias LC  Targeting Cytokines and Their Pathways for the Treatment of Cancer.  Cancers (Basel)  2023 Oct 30;15(21). pii:5224
  29. Youngblood MW, Erson-Omay Z, Li C, Najem H, Coșkun S, Tyrtova E, Montejo JD, Miyagishima DF, Barak T, Nishimura S  et al.  Super-enhancer hijacking drives ectopic expression of hedgehog pathway ligands in meningiomas.  Nat Commun  2023 Oct 07;14(1):6279. pii:6279
  30. Sim HW, Wachsmuth L, Barnes EH, Yip S, Koh ES, Hall M, Jennens R, Ashley DM, Verhaak RG, Heimberger AB  et al.  NUTMEG: A randomized phase II study of nivolumab and temozolomide versus temozolomide alone in newly diagnosed older patients with glioblastoma.  Neurooncol Adv  2023;5(1):vdad124. pii:vdad124
  31. Wu SA, Jia DT, Schwartz M, Mulcahy M, Guo K, Tate MC, Sachdev S, Kostelecky N, Escobar DJ, Brat DJ  et al.  HER2+ esophageal carcinoma leptomeningeal metastases treated with intrathecal trastuzumab regimen.  CNS Oncol  2023 Sep 01;12(3):CNS99. pii:CNS99
  32. Ren X, Manzanares LD, Piccolo EB, Urbanczyk JM, Sullivan DP, Yalom LK, Bui TM, Lantz C, Najem H, Dulai PS  et al.  Macrophage-endothelial cell crosstalk orchestrates neutrophil recruitment in inflamed mucosa.  J Clin Invest  2023 Aug 01;133(15). pii:e170733
  33. Sooreshjani M, Tripathi S, Dussold C, Najem H, de Groot J, Lukas RV, Heimberger AB  The Use of Targeted Cytokines as Cancer Therapeutics in Glioblastoma.  Cancers (Basel)  2023 Jul 23;15(14). pii:3739
  34. Budhiraja S, Najem H, Tripathi S, Wadhawani NR, Horbinski C, McCord M, Lenzen AC, Heimberger AB, DeCuypere M  Immunobiology and Cytokine Modulation of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Microenvironment: A Scoping Review.  Cancers (Basel)  2023 Jul 18;15(14). pii:3655
  35. Choudhury A, Cady MA, Lucas CG, Najem H, Phillips JJ, Palikuqi B, Zakimi N, Joseph T, Birrueta JO, Chen WC  et al.  NOTCH3 drives meningioma tumorigenesis and resistance to radiotherapy.  bioRxiv  2023 Jul 11;. pii:2023.07.10.548456
  36. Drumm MR, Wang W, Sears TK, Bell-Burdett K, Javier R, Cotton KY, Webb B, Byrne K, Unruh D, Thirunavu V  et al.  Postoperative risk of IDH-mutant glioma-associated seizures and their potential management with IDH-mutant inhibitors.  J Clin Invest  2023 Jun 15;133(12). pii:e168035
  37. Lucas CH, Mirchia K, Seo K, Najem H, Chen W, Zakimi N, Choudhury A, Liu SJ, Phillips J, Magill S  et al.  Spatial genomic, biochemical, and cellular mechanisms drive meningioma heterogeneity and evolution.  Res Sq  2023 May 15;. pii:rs.3.rs-2921804
  38. Gould A, Gonzales VAA, Dmello CC, Saganty R, Lukas RV, Zhang DY, Heimberger AB, Canney M, Carpentier A, Desseaux C  et al.  Advances in Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption to Facilitate Drug Delivery for Infiltrative Gliomas.  Adv Oncol  2023 May;3(1):77-86. doi:10.1016/j.yao.2023.01.017
  39. Goethe EA, Heimberger AB, Rao G  Aspirin and immunotherapy: a Faustian bargain?  J Clin Invest  2023 May 01;133(9). pii:e169598
  40. Petrosyan E, Fares J, Fernandez LG, Yeeravalli R, Dmello C, Duffy JT, Zhang P, Lee-Chang C, Miska J, Ahmed AU  et al.  Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in the Brain Tumor Immune Microenvironment.  Mol Cancer Res  2023 May 01;21(5):389-396. doi:10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-22-0920
  41. Dmello C, Zhao J, Chen L, Gould A, Castro B, Arrieta VA, Zhang DY, Kim KS, Kanojia D, Zhang P  et al.  Checkpoint kinase 1/2 inhibition potentiates anti-tumoral immune response and sensitizes gliomas to immune checkpoint blockade.  Nat Commun  2023 Mar 22;14(1):1566. pii:1566
  42. Burdett KB, Unruh D, Drumm M, Steffens A, Lamano J, Judkins J, Schwartz M, Javier R, Amidei C, Lipp ES  et al.  Determining venous thromboembolism risk in patients with adult-type diffuse glioma.  Blood  2023 Mar 16;141(11):1322-1336. doi:10.1182/blood.2022017858
  43. Youngblood MW, Tran AN, Wang W, An S, Scholtens D, Zhang L, O'Shea K, Pokorny JL, Magill ST, Sachdev S  et al.  Docetaxel targets aggressive methylation profiles and serves as a radiosensitizer in high-risk meningiomas.  Neuro Oncol  2023 Mar 14;25(3):508-519. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noac206
  44. Pang L, Dunterman M, Xuan W, Gonzalez A, Lin Y, Hsu WH, Khan F, Hagan RS, Muller WA, Heimberger AB  et al.  Circadian regulator CLOCK promotes tumor angiogenesis in glioblastoma.  Cell Rep  2023 Feb 28;42(2):112127. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112127
  45. Khan AB, Lee S, Harmanci AS, Patel R, Latha K, Yang Y, Marisetty A, Lee HK, Heimberger AB, Fuller GN  et al.  CXCR4 expression is associated with proneural-to-mesenchymal transition in glioblastoma.  Int J Cancer  2023 Feb 15;152(4):713-724. doi:10.1002/ijc.34329
  46. Zhao Q, Hu J, Kong L, Jiang S, Tian X, Wang J, Hashizume R, Jia Z, Fowlkes NW, Yan J  et al.  FGL2-targeting T cells exhibit antitumor effects on glioblastoma and recruit tumor-specific brain-resident memory T cells.  Nat Commun  2023 Feb 10;14(1):735. pii:735
  47. Liang J, Fang D, Gumin J, Najem H, Sooreshjani M, Song R, Sabbagh A, Kong LY, Duffy J, Balyasnikova IV  et al.  A Case Study of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Function: Donor Therapeutic Differences in Activity and Modulation with Verteporfin.  Cancers (Basel)  2023 Feb 08;15(4). pii:1085
  48. Arrieta VA, Dmello C, McGrail DJ, Brat DJ, Lee-Chang C, Heimberger AB, Chand D, Stupp R, Sonabend AM  Immune checkpoint blockade in glioblastoma: from tumor heterogeneity to personalized treatment.  J Clin Invest  2023 Jan 17;133(2). pii:e163447
  49. Adekanmbi A, Youngblood MW, Karras CL, Oyetunji EA, Kalapurakal J, Horbinski CM, Najem H, Hill VB, Chandler JP, Heimberger AB  et al.  Clinical Management of Supratentorial Non-Skull Base Meningiomas.  Cancers (Basel)  2022 Nov 29;14(23). pii:5887
  50. McCord M, Bartom E, Burdett K, Baran A, Eckerdt FD, Balyasnikova IV, McCortney K, Sears T, Cheng SY, Sarkaria JN  et al.  Modeling Therapy-Driven Evolution of Glioblastoma with Patient-Derived Xenografts.  Cancers (Basel)  2022 Nov 09;14(22). pii:5494

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