Scholars@Duke
Grant Alan Robinson

Grant Alan Robinson

Associate Professor Emeritus in Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
grant.robinson@duke.edu
DUMC 3271, Durham, NC 27710
200 Trent Dr., 1554 Blue Zone, Durham, NC 27705

Selected Publications

Muscle-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Influence Motor Neuron Regeneration Accuracy.

Journal Article Neuroscience · November 1, 2019 Extracellular vesicles are lipid bilayer-enclosed extracellular structures. Although the term extracellular vesicles is quite inclusive, it generally refers to exosomes (<200 nm), and microvesicles (~100-1000 nm). Such vesicles are resistant to degradation ... Full text Link to item Cite

Polyethylene glycol fusion repair prevents reinnervation accuracy in rat peripheral nerve.

Journal Article J Neurosci Res · July 2016 Functional recovery following a peripheral nerve injury is made easier when regenerating axons correctly reinnervate their original targets. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has recently been used in attempts to fuse severed peripheral axons during suture-based r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Accuracy of regenerating motor neurons: influence of diffusion in denervated nerve.

Journal Article Neuroscience · July 25, 2014 Following injury to a peripheral nerve the denervated distal nerve segment undergoes remarkable changes including loss of the blood-nerve barrier, Schwann cell proliferation, macrophage invasion, and the production of many cytokines and neurotrophic factor ... Full text Link to item Cite

In vitro electrophoresis and in vivo electrophysiology of peripheral nerve using DC field stimulation.

Journal Article J Neurosci Methods · March 30, 2014 BACKGROUND: Given the movement of molecules within tissue that occurs naturally by endogenous electric fields, we examined the possibility of using a low-voltage DC field to move charged substances in rodent peripheral nerve in vitro. NEW METHOD: Labeled s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Extracellular vesicles from a muscle cell line (C2C12) enhance cell survival and neurite outgrowth of a motor neuron cell line (NSC-34).

Journal Article J Extracell Vesicles · 2014 INTRODUCTION: There is renewed interest in extracellular vesicles over the past decade or 2 after initially being thought of as simple cellular garbage cans to rid cells of unwanted components. Although there has been intense research into the role of extr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Polysialic acid expression is not necessary for motor neuron target selectivity.

Journal Article Muscle Nerve · March 2013 INTRODUCTION: Recovery after peripheral nerve lesions depends on guiding axons back to their targets. Polysialic acid upregulation by regrowing axons has been proposed recently as necessary for this target selectivity. METHODS: We reexamined this propositi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Motor neuron target selectivity and survival after prolonged axotomy.

Journal Article Restor Neurol Neurosci · 2013 PURPOSE: After a cut peripheral nerve is repaired, motor neurons usually regenerate across the lesion site, however they often enter an inappropriate Schwann cell tube and may be directed to an inappropriate target organ such as skin, resulting in continue ... Full text Link to item Cite

Schwann cell influence on motor neuron regeneration accuracy.

Journal Article Neuroscience · September 29, 2009 Extensive peripheral nerve injuries can result in the effective paralysis of the entire limb or distal portions of the limb. The major determinant of functional recovery after lesions in the peripheral nervous system is the accurate regeneration of axons t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Influence of terminal nerve branch size on motor neuron regeneration accuracy.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · February 2009 Featured Publication A necessary prerequisite for recovery of motor function following a peripheral nerve injury is the correct choice by regenerating motor neurons to reinnervate the original distal nerve branch to denervated muscle. The present studies use the mouse femoral ... Full text Link to item Cite

Applications of proteomics to nerve regeneration research

Chapter · January 1, 2009 Peripheral nerve injury is a major clinical and public health challenge. Although a common and increasingly prevalent wartime condition (1), injury to peripheral nerves, plexuses, and roots is present in 5% of patients seen in civilian trauma centers (2). ... Cite

Motor neuron regeneration accuracy: balancing trophic influences between pathways and end-organs.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · May 2007 Featured Publication The key to recovery of function following peripheral nerve lesions is guiding axons back to their original target end-organs. The parent femoral nerve splits into two comparable terminal pathways: one to the muscle and the other to the skin. Normally, moto ... Full text Link to item Cite

The specificity of motor neurone regeneration (preferential reinnervation).

Journal Article Acta Physiol (Oxf) · February 2007 Featured Publication The major determinant of functional recovery after lesions in the peripheral nervous system is the accurate regeneration of axons to their original target end-organs. Unfortunately, regenerating motor axons are often misrouted to sensory target end-organs, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Developmentally regulated changes in femoral nerve regeneration in the mouse and rat.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · February 2006 Featured Publication The attractive influence of muscle on regenerating motor neuron axons is well-known. Less is known, however, about the intrinsic abilities of different nerve pathways to support these axons prior to end-organ contact. The age at which a nerve injury is sus ... Full text Link to item Cite

Manipulations of the mouse femoral nerve influence the accuracy of pathway reinnervation by motor neurons.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · March 2005 Featured Publication Previous studies using the femoral nerve model in both mice and rats have shown that regenerating motor axons prefer to reinnervate the terminal nerve branch to muscle versus a terminal nerve branch to skin, a process that has been termed preferential moto ... Full text Link to item Cite

Motor neurons can preferentially reinnervate cutaneous pathways.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · December 2004 Featured Publication Previous work in the rat femoral nerve has shown that regenerating motor neurons preferentially reinnervate a terminal nerve branch to muscle as opposed to skin. This process has been termed preferential motor reinnervation (PMR) and has been interpreted a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Axotomized mouse retinal ganglion cells containing melanopsin show enhanced survival, but not enhanced axon regrowth into a peripheral nerve graft.

Journal Article Vision Res · October 2004 Featured Publication Melanopsin is found in only approximately 2% of mouse retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), making these RGCs uniquely and directly photosensitive. Given that the majority of RGCs die after axotomy and that grafting of a peripheral nerve to the eye provides a per ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preferential motor reinnervation in the mouse: comparison of femoral nerve repair using a fibrin sealant or suture.

Journal Article Muscle Nerve · August 2003 Featured Publication Previous studies in rat femoral nerve demonstrated that regenerating motor axons preferentially reinnervate a nerve branch to muscle as opposed to skin, a process that has been termed preferential motor reinnervation (PMR). This process has not been previo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Survival of adult rat retinal ganglion cells with regrown axons in peripheral nerve grafts: a comparison of graft attachment with suture of fibrin glue.

Journal Article J Neurosurg · August 2000 Featured Publication OBJECT: The goal of this study was to examine whether the method of attachment of a peripheral nerve graft would have an effect on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) regeneration. METHODS: The number of adult rat RGCs with regrown axons in a peripheral nerve graf ... Full text Link to item Cite

Netrin-1 and peripheral nerve regeneration in the adult rat.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · February 2000 Featured Publication Axonal guidance during development of the nervous system is thought to be highly regulated through interactions of axons with attractive, repulsive, and trophic cues. Similar mechanisms regulate axonal regeneration after injury. The netrins have been shown ... Full text Link to item Cite

lambda RNA internal standards quantify sensitivity and amplification efficiency of mammalian gene expression profiling.

Journal Article Biotechniques · September 1998 Featured Publication There is an increasing interest in being able to document simultaneous levels of multiple mRNAs from limited amounts of mammalian tissue. The combination of amplified antisense RNA (aRNA) and reverse Northern blot analysis is one technology that allows the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Changes in the expression of transcription factors ATF-2 and Fra-2 after axotomy and during regeneration in rat retinal ganglion cells.

Journal Article Brain Res Mol Brain Res · September 5, 1996 Featured Publication The expression of one member of the bZip superfamily of transcription factors, c-Jun, is known to be induced by axotomy in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and is associated with axonal regrowth. This study used immunohistochemistry combined with retrograde l ... Full text Link to item Cite

Axotomy-induced regulation of c-Jun expression in regenerating rat retinal ganglion cells.

Journal Article Brain Res Mol Brain Res · May 1995 Featured Publication Antibodies to c-Jun, JunD, JunB, c-Fos, FosB and Krox-24 proteins were used to examine the expression of these transcription factors in identified adult rat retinal ganglion cells with regenerating axons in a peripheral nerve graft. First, expression in ga ... Full text Link to item Cite

Immediate early gene expression in axotomized and regenerating retinal ganglion cells of the adult rat.

Journal Article Brain Res Mol Brain Res · July 1994 Featured Publication To determine if axotomy-induced immediate early gene (IEG) expression accompanies regenerative efforts in central nervous system (CNS) neurons, immunohistochemistry using antibodies to c-Jun, JunD, JunB, c-Fos, FosB and Krox-24 proteins was used to examine ... Full text Link to item Cite

Behavior of motor units in human biceps brachii during a submaximal fatiguing contraction.

Journal Article J Appl Physiol (1985) · June 1994 Featured Publication The activity of 50 single motor units was recorded in the biceps brachii muscle of human subjects while they performed submaximal isometric elbow flexion contractions that were sustained to induce fatigue. The purposes of this study were to examine the inf ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adaptation of cat motoneurons to sustained and intermittent extracellular activation.

Journal Article J Physiol · May 1993 1. The main purpose of this study was to quantify the adaptation of spinal motoneurons to sustained and intermittent activation, using an extracellular route of stimulating current application to single test cells, in contrast to an intracellular route, as ... Full text Link to item Cite

Immobilization-induced changes in motor unit force and fatigability in the cat.

Journal Article Muscle Nerve · June 1991 The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 3 weeks of immobilization on the mechanical properties of motor units in a cat hindlimb muscle. The muscle, tibialis posterior, was immobilized in a shortened position. Motor units were classified as ... Full text Link to item Cite

Task and fatigue effects on low-threshold motor units in human hand muscle.

Journal Article J Neurophysiol · December 1989 1. The activity of single motor units was recorded in the first dorsal interosseus muscle of human subjects while they performed an isometric ramp-and-hold maneuver. Motor-unit activity was characterized before and after fatigue by the use of a branched bi ... Full text Link to item Cite

A stable, selective electrode for recording single motor-unit potentials in humans.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · March 1988 A new application of electrode technology has enabled recording of single motor-unit potentials in human first dorsal interosseus muscle with more versatility than has been traditionally associated with this paradigm. The design, manufacture, and applicati ... Full text Link to item Cite

The development and recovery of motor function in spinal cats. II. Pharmacological enhancement of recovery.

Journal Article Exp Brain Res · 1986 The effects of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonist bicuculline (BCC) on hindlimb motor performance was examined in mature spinal cats with spinal cord transections made either on the day of birth or at approximately two weeks postpartum and in ch ... Full text Link to item Cite

The development and recovery of motor function in spinal cats. I. The infant lesion effect.

Journal Article Exp Brain Res · 1986 Normal development of motor function was compared to that of cats with spinal transections at birth (newborn operates) or at approximately two weeks after birth (two week operates). Newborn operates expressed motor behavior not seen until sometime later in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Interfering with inhibition may improve motor function.

Journal Article Brain Res · November 4, 1985 Motor behavior not seen in newborn cats can be revealed by spinal transection and is therefore normally suppressed. Motor performance of these spinal kittens after reaching adulthood surpasses that of chronic adult-operated spinal cats but the latter displ ... Full text Link to item Cite