Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

All Outputs (79)

The atypical ‘hippocampal’ glutamate receptor coupled to phospholipase D that controls stretch‐sensitivity in primary mechanosensory nerve endings is homomeric purely metabotropic GluK2 (2023)
Journal Article
Thompson, K. J., Watson, S., Zanato, C., Dall'Angelo, S., De Nooij, J. C., Pace‐Bonello, B., …Bewick, G. S. (2024). The atypical ‘hippocampal’ glutamate receptor coupled to phospholipase D that controls stretch‐sensitivity in primary mechanosensory nerve endings is homomeric purely metabotropic GluK2. Experimental Physiology, 109(1), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1113/ep090761

A metabotropic glutamate receptor coupled to phospholipase D (PLD-mGluR) was discovered in the hippocampus over three decades ago. Its pharmacology and direct linkage to PLD activation are well established and indicate it is a highly atypical glutama... Read More about The atypical ‘hippocampal’ glutamate receptor coupled to phospholipase D that controls stretch‐sensitivity in primary mechanosensory nerve endings is homomeric purely metabotropic GluK2.

Development of abnormalities at the neuromuscular junction in the SOD1-G93A mouse model of ALS: dysfunction then disruption of postsynaptic structure precede overt motor symptoms (2023)
Journal Article
McIntosh, J., Mekrouda, I., Dashti, M., Giuraniuc, C. V., Banks, R. W., Miles, G. B., & Bewick, G. S. (2023). Development of abnormalities at the neuromuscular junction in the SOD1-G93A mouse model of ALS: dysfunction then disruption of postsynaptic structure precede overt motor symptoms. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 16, Article 1169075. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1169075

Introduction: The ultimate deficit in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is neuromuscular junction (NMJ) loss, producing permanent paralysis, ultimately in respiratory muscles. However, understanding the functional and structural deficits at NMJs pr... Read More about Development of abnormalities at the neuromuscular junction in the SOD1-G93A mouse model of ALS: dysfunction then disruption of postsynaptic structure precede overt motor symptoms.

Biophysical model of muscle spindle encoding (2023)
Journal Article
Housley, S. N., Powers, R. K., Nardelli, P., Lee, S., Blum, K., Bewick, G. S., …Cope, T. C. (2023). Biophysical model of muscle spindle encoding. Experimental Physiology, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1113/ep091099

Muscle spindles encode mechanosensory information by mechanisms that remain only partially understood. Their complexity is expressed in mounting evidence of various molecular mechanisms that play essential roles in muscle mechanics, mechanotransducti... Read More about Biophysical model of muscle spindle encoding.

The association between muscle architecture and muscle spindle abundance (2023)
Journal Article
Kissane, R. W., Charles, J. P., Banks, R. W., & Bates, K. T. (2023). The association between muscle architecture and muscle spindle abundance. Scientific Reports, 13, Article 2830. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30044-w

Across the human body, skeletal muscles have a broad range of biomechanical roles that employ complex proprioceptive control strategies to successfully execute a desired movement. This information is derived from peripherally located sensory apparatu... Read More about The association between muscle architecture and muscle spindle abundance.

Molecular characterization of the intact mouse muscle spindle using a multi-omics approach (2023)
Journal Article
Heinemann-Yerushalmi, L., Bornstein, B., Krief, S., Adler, R., Dassa, B., Leshkowitz, D., …Zelzer, E. (2023). Molecular characterization of the intact mouse muscle spindle using a multi-omics approach. eLife, 12, Article e81843. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.81843

The proprioceptive system is essential for the control of coordinated movement, posture, and skeletal integrity. The sense of proprioception is produced in the brain using peripheral sensory input from receptors such as the muscle spindle, which dete... Read More about Molecular characterization of the intact mouse muscle spindle using a multi-omics approach.

There and back again: 50 years of wandering through terra incognita fusorum (2023)
Journal Article
Banks, R. W. (2023). There and back again: 50 years of wandering through terra incognita fusorum. Experimental Physiology, https://doi.org/10.1113/ep090760

What is the topic of this paper? This paper concerns the relationship between structure and function of the mammalian muscle spindle, its intrafusal muscle fibres and their sensory and motor innervation. What advances does it highlight? The paper sum... Read More about There and back again: 50 years of wandering through terra incognita fusorum.

Skeletal muscle function underpins muscle spindle abundance (2022)
Journal Article
Kissane, R. W., Charles, J. P., Banks, R. W., & Bates, K. T. (2022). Skeletal muscle function underpins muscle spindle abundance. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1976), https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0622

Muscle spindle abundance is highly variable within and across species, but we currently lack any clear picture of the mechanistic causes or consequences of this variation. Previous use of spindle abundance as a correlate for muscle function implies a... Read More about Skeletal muscle function underpins muscle spindle abundance.

Mechanotransduction channels in proprioceptive sensory nerve terminals: still an open question? (2020)
Journal Article
Bewick, G. S., & Banks, R. W. (2021). Mechanotransduction channels in proprioceptive sensory nerve terminals: still an open question?. Current Opinion in Physiology, 20, 90-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cophys.2020.11.007

Mechanosensory transduction (MST) in proprioceptors, and other low threshold mechanosensory nerve terminals (LTMT), has been debated intensely for decades. MST in muscle spindles produces a receptor potential that encodes stimulus speed and duration,... Read More about Mechanotransduction channels in proprioceptive sensory nerve terminals: still an open question?.

New functions for the proprioceptive system in skeletal biology (2018)
Journal Article
Blecher, R., Heinemann-Yerushalmi, L., Assaraf, E., Konstantin, N., Chapman, J. R., Cope, T. C., …Zelzer, E. (2018). New functions for the proprioceptive system in skeletal biology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1759), Article 20170327. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0327

Muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs (GTOs) are two types of sensory receptors that respond to changes in length or tension of skeletal muscles. These mechanosensors have long been known to participate in both proprioception and stretch reflex. He... Read More about New functions for the proprioceptive system in skeletal biology.

Evidence for the involvement of ASIC3 in sensory mechanotransduction in proprioceptors (2016)
Journal Article
Lin, S., Cheng, Y., Banks, R. W., Min, M., Bewick, G. S., & Chen, C. (2016). Evidence for the involvement of ASIC3 in sensory mechanotransduction in proprioceptors. Nature Communications, 7, Article 11460. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11460

Acid-sensing ion channel 3 (ASIC3) is involved in acid nociception, but its possible role in neurosensory mechanotransduction is disputed. We report here the generation of Asic3-knockout/eGFPf-knockin mice and subsequent characterization of heterogen... Read More about Evidence for the involvement of ASIC3 in sensory mechanotransduction in proprioceptors.

Combined Recording of Mechanically Stimulated Afferent Output and Nerve Terminal Labelling in Mouse Hair Follicle Lanceolate Endings (2016)
Journal Article
Bewick, G., Cahusac, P., & Banks, R. (online). Combined Recording of Mechanically Stimulated Afferent Output and Nerve Terminal Labelling in Mouse Hair Follicle Lanceolate Endings. Journal of Visualized Experiments, Article e53854. https://doi.org/10.3791/53854

A novel dissection and recording technique is described for monitoring afferent firing evoked by mechanical displacement of hairs in the mouse pinna. The technique is very cost-effective and easily undertaken with materials commonly found in most ele... Read More about Combined Recording of Mechanically Stimulated Afferent Output and Nerve Terminal Labelling in Mouse Hair Follicle Lanceolate Endings.

The innervation of the muscle spindle: a personal history (2015)
Journal Article
Banks, R. W. (2015). The innervation of the muscle spindle: a personal history. Journal of Anatomy, 227(2), 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12297

I present a brief review of current understanding of the innervation of the mammalian muscle spindle, from a personal historical perspective. The review begins with comparative studies on the numbers of spindle afferents and considers how their relat... Read More about The innervation of the muscle spindle: a personal history.

Modelling the mechanoreceptor’s dynamic behaviour (2015)
Journal Article
Song, Z., Banks, R. W., & Bewick, G. S. (2015). Modelling the mechanoreceptor’s dynamic behaviour. Journal of Anatomy, 227(2), 243-254. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12328

All sensory receptors adapt, i.e. they constantly adjust their sensitivity to external stimuli to match the current demands of the natural environment. Electrophysiological responses of sensory receptors from widely different modalities seem to exhib... Read More about Modelling the mechanoreceptor’s dynamic behaviour.

The PDZ-domain protein whirlin facilitates mechanosensory signaling in mammalian proprioceptors (2015)
Journal Article
de Nooij, J. C., Simon, C. M., Simon, A., Doobar, S., Steel, K. P., Banks, R. W., …Jessell, T. M. (2015). The PDZ-domain protein whirlin facilitates mechanosensory signaling in mammalian proprioceptors. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(7), 3073-3084. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3699-14.2015

Mechanoreception is an essential feature of many sensory modalities. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that govern the conversion of a mechanical force to distinct patterns of action potentials remain poorly understood. Proprioceptive mechanoreceptors res... Read More about The PDZ-domain protein whirlin facilitates mechanosensory signaling in mammalian proprioceptors.

A study of the expression of small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK1-3) in sensory endings of muscle spindles and lanceolate endings of hair follicles in the rat (2014)
Journal Article
Shenton, F., Bewick, G., & Banks, R. (2014). A study of the expression of small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK1-3) in sensory endings of muscle spindles and lanceolate endings of hair follicles in the rat. PLoS ONE, 9(9), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107073

Processes underlying mechanotransduction and its regulation are poorly understood. Inhibitors of Ca2+-activated K+ channels cause a dramatic increase in afferent output from stretched muscle spindles. We used immunocytochemistry to test for the prese... Read More about A study of the expression of small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK1-3) in sensory endings of muscle spindles and lanceolate endings of hair follicles in the rat.

Mechanotransduction in the muscle spindle (2014)
Journal Article
Bewick, G. S., & Banks, R. W. (2015). Mechanotransduction in the muscle spindle. Pflügers Archiv European Journal of Physiology, 467(1), 175-190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-014-1536-9

The focus of this review is on the principal sensory ending of the mammalian muscle spindle, known as the primary ending. The process of mechanosensory transduction in the primary ending is examined under five headings: (i) action potential responses... Read More about Mechanotransduction in the muscle spindle.

Analyses of muscle spindles in the soleus of six inbred mouse strains (2013)
Journal Article
Lionikas, A., Smith, C. J., Smith, T. L., Bünger, L., Banks, R. W., & Bewick, G. S. (2013). Analyses of muscle spindles in the soleus of six inbred mouse strains. Journal of Anatomy, 223(3), 289-296. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12076

Adult muscle size and fibre-type composition are heritable traits that vary substantially between individuals. We used inbred mouse strains in which soleus muscle mass varied by an order of magnitude to explore whether properties of muscle spindles c... Read More about Analyses of muscle spindles in the soleus of six inbred mouse strains.

Glutamatergic modulation of synaptic-like vesicle recycling in mechanosensory lanceolate nerve terminals of mammalian hair follicles (2013)
Journal Article
Banks, R. W., Cahusac, P. M., Graca, A., Kain, N., Shenton, F., Singh, P., …Bewick, G. S. (2013). Glutamatergic modulation of synaptic-like vesicle recycling in mechanosensory lanceolate nerve terminals of mammalian hair follicles. The Journal of Physiology, 591(10), 2523-2540. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2012.243659

Our aim in the present study was to determine whether a glutamatergic modulatory system involving synaptic-like vesicles (SLVs) is present in the lanceolate ending of the mouse and rat hair follicle and, if so, to assess its similarity to that of the... Read More about Glutamatergic modulation of synaptic-like vesicle recycling in mechanosensory lanceolate nerve terminals of mammalian hair follicles.

Amiloride-sensitive channels are a major contributor to mechanotransduction in mammalian muscle spindles. (2010)
Journal Article
Simon, A., Shenton, F., Hunter, I., Banks, R. W., & Bewick, G. S. (2010). Amiloride-sensitive channels are a major contributor to mechanotransduction in mammalian muscle spindles. The Journal of Physiology, 588(1), 171-185. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2009.182683

We investigated whether channels of the epithelial sodium/amiloride-sensitive degenerin(ENaC/DEG) family are a major contributor to mechanosensory transduction in primary mechanosensory afferents, using adult rat muscle spindles as a model system. St... Read More about Amiloride-sensitive channels are a major contributor to mechanotransduction in mammalian muscle spindles..