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Articles by Sonam Dilwali in JoVE
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Neonatal Murine Cochlear Explant Technique as an In Vitro Screening Tool in Hearing Research
Lukas D. Landegger1,2,3, Sonam Dilwali1,4, Konstantina M. Stankovic1,2,4
1Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 2Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, 3Department of Otolaryngology, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, 4Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology
The goal of this protocol is to demonstrate the preparation, culture, treatment, and immunostaining of neonatal murine cochlear explants. The technique can be utilized as an in vitro screening tool in hearing research.
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A Unified Methodological Framework for Vestibular Schwannoma Research
Lukas D. Landegger*1,2,3, Jessica E. Sagers*1,4, Sonam Dilwali1,4, Takeshi Fujita1,2, Mehmet I. Sahin1,2, Konstantina M. Stankovic1,2,4
1Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 2Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, 3Department of Otolaryngology, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, 4Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard Medical School
The goal of this protocol is to outline the collection and processing of human surgical samples for multiple downstream applications in vestibular schwannoma and Schwann cell research.
Other articles by Sonam Dilwali on PubMed
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Primary Culture of Human Schwann and Schwannoma Cells: Improved and Simplified Protocol
Hearing Research.
Sep, 2014 |
Pubmed ID: 24910344 Primary culture of human Schwann cells (SCs) and vestibular schwannoma (VS) cells are invaluable tools to investigate SC physiology and VS pathobiology, and to devise effective pharmacotherapies against VS, which are sorely needed. However, existing culture protocols, in aiming to create robust, pure cultures, employ methods that can lead to loss of biological characteristics of the original cells, potentially resulting in misleading biological findings. We have developed a minimally manipulative method to culture primary human SC and VS cells, without the use of selective mitogens, toxins, or time-consuming and potentially transformative laboratory techniques. Schwann cell purity was quantified longitudinally using S100 staining in SC cultures derived from the great auricular nerve and VS cultures followed for 7 and 12 weeks, respectively. SC cultures retained approximately ≥85% purity for 2 weeks. VS cultures retained approximately ≥80% purity for the majority of the span of 12 weeks, with maximal purity of 87% at 2 weeks. The VS cultures showed high level of biological similarity (68% on average) to their respective parent tumors, as assessed using a protein array featuring 41 growth factors and receptors. Apoptosis rate in vitro negatively correlated with tumor volume. Our results, obtained using a faster, simplified culturing method than previously utilized, indicate that highly pure, primary human SC and VS cultures can be established with minimal manipulation, reaching maximal purity at 2 weeks of culture. The VS cultures recapitulate the parent tumors' biology to a great degree, making them relevant models to investigate VS pathobiology.
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Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Medications Are Cytostatic Against Human Vestibular Schwannomas
Translational Research : the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine.
Jul, 2015 |
Pubmed ID: 25616959 Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are the most common tumors of the cerebellopontine angle. Significant clinical need exists for pharmacotherapies against VSs. Motivated by previous findings that immunohistochemical expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) correlates with VS growth rate, we investigated the role of COX-2 in VSs and tested COX-2 inhibiting salicylates against VSs. COX-2 was found to be aberrantly expressed in human VS and primary human VS cells in comparison with control human nerve specimens and primary Schwann cells (SCs), respectively. Furthermore, levels of prostaglandin E2, the downstream enzymatic product of COX-2, were correlated with primary VS culture proliferation rate. Because COX-2 inhibiting salicylates such as aspirin are well tolerated and frequently clinically used, we assessed their repurposing for VS. Changes in proliferation, cell death, and cell viability were analyzed in primary VS cultures treated with aspirin, sodium salicylate, or 5-aminosalicylic acid. These drugs neither increased VS cell death nor affected healthy SCs. The cytostatic effect of aspirin in vitro was in concurrence with our previous clinical finding that patients with VS taking aspirin demonstrate reduced tumor growth. Overall, this work suggests that COX-2 is a key modulator in VS cell proliferation and survival and highlights salicylates as promising pharmacotherapies against VS.
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Preclinical Validation of Anti-nuclear Factor-kappa B Therapy to Inhibit Human Vestibular Schwannoma Growth
Molecular Oncology.
Aug, 2015 |
Pubmed ID: 25891780 Vestibular schwannomas (VSs), the most common tumors of the cerebellopontine angle, arise from Schwann cells lining the vestibular nerve. Pharmacotherapies against VS are almost non-existent. Although the therapeutic inhibition of inflammatory modulators has been established for other neoplasms, it has not been explored in VS. A bioinformatic network analysis of all genes reported to be differentially expressed in human VS revealed a pro-inflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) as a central molecule in VS pathobiology. Assessed at the transcriptional and translational level, canonical NF-κB complex was aberrantly activated in human VS and derived VS cultures in comparison to control nerves and Schwann cells, respectively. Cultured primary VS cells and VS-derived human cell line HEI-193 were treated with specific NF-κB siRNAs, experimental NF-κB inhibitor BAY11-7082 (BAY11) and clinically relevant NF-κB inhibitor curcumin. Healthy human control Schwann cells from the great auricular nerve were also treated with BAY11 and curcumin to assess toxicity. All three treatments significantly reduced proliferation in primary VS cultures and HEI-193 cells, with siRNA, 5 μM BAY11 and 50 μM curcumin reducing average proliferation (±standard error of mean) to 62.33% ± 10.59%, 14.3 ± 9.7%, and 23.0 ± 20.9% of control primary VS cells, respectively. These treatments also induced substantial cell death. Curcumin, unlike BAY11, also affected primary Schwann cells. This work highlights NF-κB as a key modulator in VS cell proliferation and survival and demonstrates therapeutic efficacy of directly targeting NF-κB in VS.
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