Scholars@Duke
Tarun Saxena

Tarun Saxena

Clinical Trials Project Leader II
Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute
tarun.saxena@duke.edu
701 W Main St, Suite 500, Durham, NC 27701

Selected Publications

Neuromechanobiology: An Expanding Field Driven by the Force of Greater Focus.

Journal Article Advanced healthcare materials · October 2021 The brain processes information by transmitting signals through highly connected and dynamic networks of neurons. Neurons use specific cellular structures, including axons, dendrites and synapses, and specific molecules, including cell adhesion molecules, ... Full text Cite

Engineering Controlled Peritumoral Inflammation to Constrain Brain Tumor Growth.

Journal Article Advanced healthcare materials · February 2019 Brain tumors remain a great clinical challenge, in part due to their capacity to invade into eloquent, inoperable regions of the brain. In contrast, inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) due to injuries activates microglia and astrocytes culmina ... Full text Cite

Toward Functional Restoration of the Central Nervous System: A Review of Translational Neuroscience Principles.

Journal Article Neurosurgery · January 1, 2019 Injury to the central nervous system (CNS) can leave patients with devastating neurological deficits that may permanently impair independence and diminish quality of life. Recent insights into how the CNS responds to injury and reacts to critically timed i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Correlation of mRNA Expression and Signal Variability in Chronic Intracortical Electrodes.

Journal Article Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · January 2018 ObjectiveThe goal for this research was to identify molecular mechanisms that explain animal-to-animal variability in chronic intracortical recordings.ApproachMicrowire electrodes were implanted into Sprague Dawley rats at an acute (1 wee ... Full text Cite

Enrichment of endogenous fractalkine and anti-inflammatory cells via aptamer-functionalized hydrogels.

Journal Article Biomaterials · October 2017 Early recruitment of non-classical monocytes and their macrophage derivatives is associated with augmented tissue repair and improved integration of biomaterial constructs. A promising therapeutic approach to recruit these subpopulations is by elevating lo ... Full text Cite

Corrigendum: Kilohertz frequency nerve block enhances anti-inflammatory effects of vagus nerve stimulation.

Journal Article Scientific reports · June 2017 This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep39810. ... Full text Cite

Kilohertz frequency nerve block enhances anti-inflammatory effects of vagus nerve stimulation.

Journal Article Scientific reports · January 2017 Efferent activation of the cervical vagus nerve (cVN) dampens systemic inflammatory processes, potentially modulating a wide-range of inflammatory pathological conditions. In contrast, afferent cVN activation amplifies systemic inflammatory processes, lead ... Full text Cite

Engineering challenges for brain tumor immunotherapy

Journal Article Advanced drug delivery reviews · 2017 Cite

Implantable electronics: A sensor web for neurons.

Journal Article Nature materials · December 2015 Full text Cite

Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycan Hydrogels Create Endogenous Niches for Neural Stem Cells.

Journal Article Bioconjugate chemistry · December 2015 Neural stem cells (NSCs) possess great potential for neural tissue repair after traumatic injuries to the central nervous system (CNS). However, poor survival and self-renewal of NSCs after injury severely limits its therapeutic potential. Sulfated chondro ... Full text Cite

Nanocarrier-mediated inhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factor attenuates secondary injury after spinal cord injury.

Journal Article ACS nano · February 2015 Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to permanent motor and sensory deficits. Following the initial traumatic insult, secondary injury mechanisms characterized by persistent heightened inflammation are initiated and lead to continued and pervasive cell death ... Full text Cite

Intracortical recording interfaces: current challenges to chronic recording function.

Journal Article ACS chemical neuroscience · January 2015 Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) offer significant hope to tetraplegic and paraplegic individuals. This technology relies on extracting and translating motor intent to facilitate control of a computer cursor or to enable fine control of an external assisti ... Full text Cite

Extracellular matrix-based intracortical microelectrodes: Toward a microfabricated neural interface based on natural materials.

Journal Article Microsystems & nanoengineering · January 2015 Extracellular matrix (ECM)-based implantable neural electrodes (NEs) were achieved using a microfabrication strategy on natural-substrate-based organic materials. The ECM-based design minimized the introduction of non-natural products into the brain. Furth ... Full text Cite

Chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans for CNS homeostasis-implications for material design.

Journal Article Current medicinal chemistry · January 2014 Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are complex biomolecules that are known to facilitate patterning of axonal direction and cell migration during the early growth and development phase of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). In adults, they c ... Full text Cite

The impact of chronic blood-brain barrier breach on intracortical electrode function.

Journal Article Biomaterials · July 2013 Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have allowed control of prosthetic limbs in paralyzed patients. Unfortunately, the electrodes of the BCI that interface with the brain only function for a short period of time before the signal quality on these electrodes b ... Full text Cite

The upregulation of specific interleukin (IL) receptor antagonists and paradoxical enhancement of neuronal apoptosis due to electrode induced strain and brain micromotion.

Journal Article Biomaterials · September 2012 The high mechanical mismatch between stiffness of silicon and metal microelectrodes and soft cortical tissue, induces strain at the neural interface which likely contributes to failure of the neural interface. However, little is known about the molecular o ... Full text Cite