Brock Grill, PhD

Brock Grill, PhD

Academic Title: Professor, Pediatrics

Research Title: Principal Investigator, Center for Integrative Brain Research

Research Center: Center for Integrative Brain Research

  • Biography

    • Related Pages

    • Grill Lab Website

      Grill Lab Website

      Our goal is to decipher signaling networks that affect neuron development and engineered behaviors. We focus on molecular players and cellular processes involved in neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative disease and opioid drug addiction.

  • Publications

    Manuscripts in Refereed Journals

    • AlAbdi L, Desbois M, Rusnac DV, Sulaiman RA, Rosenfeld JA, Lalani S, Murdock DR, Burrage LC, Undiagnosed Diseases Network, Billie Au PY, Towner S, Wilson WG, Wong L, Brunet T, Strobl-Wildemann G, Burton JE, Hoganson G, McWalter K, Begtrup A, Zarate YA, Christensen EL, Opperman KJ, Giles AC, Helaby R, Kania A, Zheng N, Grill B*, Alkuraya FS*
      Loss-of-function variants in MYCBP2 cause neurobehavioural phenotypes and corpus callosum defects.
      36200388 Brain : a journal of neurology, 2022 Oct 6 : * co-corresponding authors
    • Maza N, Wang D, Kowalski C, Stoveken HM, Dao M, Sial OK, Giles AC, Grill B*, Martemyanov KA*
      Ptchd1 mediates opioid tolerance via cholesterol-dependent effects on μ-opioid receptor trafficking.
      35982154 Nature neuroscience, 2022 Sept. : 25(9)1179-1190 * co-corresponding authors
    • Wang D, Dao M, Muntean BS, Giles AC, Martemyanov KA, Grill B
      Genetic modeling of GNAO1 disorder delineates mechanisms of Gαo dysfunction.
      34508586 Human molecular genetics, 2022 Feb 21 : 31(4)510-522 PMCID:PMC8863422
    • Crawley O, Grill B
      Autophagy in axonal and presynaptic development.
      Curr Opin Nerobiol, 2021 Apr 30
    • Giles AC, Grill B.
      Roles of the HUWE1 ubiquitin ligase in nervous system development, function and disease.
      Neural Dev, 2020 Apr 26
    • Crawley O, Opperman KJ, Desbois M, Adrados I, Borgen MA, Giles AC, Duckett DR, Grill B.
      Autophagy is inhibited by ubiquitin ligase activity in the nervous system
      Nat Commun, 2019 Nov 1
    • Wang D... Grill B*, Martemyanov KA*. * co-corresponding authors
      Genetic behavioral screen identifies an orphan anti-opioid system
      Science, 2019 Sep 20
    • Giles AC, Desbois M, Opperman KJ, Tavora R, Maroni MJ, Grill B.
      A complex containing the O-GlcNAc transferase OGT-1 and the ubiquitin ligase EEL-1 regulates GABA neuron function
      J Biol Chem, 2019 Apr 26
    • Borgen MA, Giles AC, Wang D, Grill B.
      Synapse maintenance is impacted by ATAT-2 tubulin acetyltransferase activity and the RPM-1 signaling hub
      Elife, 2019 Jan 18
    • Desbois M, Crawley O, Evans PR, Baker ST, Masuho I, Yasuda R, Grill B.
      PAM forms an atypical SCF ubiquitin ligase complex that ubiquitinates and degrades NMNAT2
      J Biol Chem, 2018 Sep 7
    • Borgen MA, Wang D, Grill B.
      RPM-1 regulates axon termination by affecting growth cone collapse and microtubule stability
      Development, 2017 Dec 15
    • Crawley O, Giles AC, Desbois M, Kashyap S, Birnbaum R, Grill B.
      A MIG-15/JNK-1 MAP kinase cascade opposes RPM-1 signaling in synapse formation and learning
      PLoS Genet, 2017 Dec 11
    • Opperman KJ, Mulcahy B, Giles AC, Risley MG, Birnbaum RL, Tulgren ED, Dawson-Scully K, Zhen M, Grill B
      The HECT Family Ubiquitin Ligase EEL-1 Regulates Neuronal Function and Development
      Cell Rep, 2017 Apr 25
    • Baker ST, Grill B.
      Defining Minimal Binding Regions in Regulator of Presynaptic Morphology 1 (RPM-1) Using Caenorhabditis elegans Neurons Reveals Differential Signaling Complexes
      J Biol Chem, 2017 Feb 10
    • Grill B, Murphey RK, Borgen MA.
      The PHR proteins: intracellular signaling hubs in neuronal development and axon degeneration
      Neural Dev, 2016
    • Giles AC, Opperman KJ, Rankin CH, Grill B.
      Developmental Function of the PHR Protein RPM-1 Is Required for Learning in Caenorhabditis elegans
      G3 (Bethesda), 2015 Oct 13
    • Baker ST, Turgeon SM, Tulgren ED, Wigant J, Rahimi O, Opperman KJ, Grill B.
      Neuronal development in Caenorhabditis elegans is regulated by inhibition of an MLK MAP kinase pathway
      Genetics, 2015 Jan 1
    • Sharma J, Baker ST, Turgeon SM, Gurney AM, Opperman KJ, Grill B.
      Identification of a peptide inhibitor of the RPM-1 · FSN-1 ubiquitin ligase complex
      J Biol Chem, 2014 Dec 12
    • Tulgren ED, Turgeon SM, Opperman KJ, Grill B.
      The Nesprin family member ANC-1 regulates synapse formation and axon termination by functioning in a pathway with RPM-1 and β-Catenin
      PLoS Genet, 2014 Jul 10
    • Opperman KJ, Grill B.
      RPM-1 is localized to distinct subcellular compartments and regulates axon length in GABAergic motor neurons
      Neural Dev, 2014 May 10
    • Baker ST, Opperman KJ, Tulgren ED, Turgeon SM, Bienvenut W, Grill B.
      RPM-1 uses both ubiquitin ligase and phosphatase-based mechanisms to regulate DLK-1 during neuronal development
      PLoS Genet, 2014 May 8
    • Grill B*, Chen L, Tulgren ED, Baker ST, Bienvenut W, Anderson M, Quadroni M, Jin Y, Garner CC. * corresponding author
      RAE-1, a novel PHR binding protein, is required for axon termination and synapse formation in Caenorhabditis elegans
      J Neurosci, 2012 Feb 22
    • Tulgren ED, Baker ST, Rapp L, Gurney AM, Grill B.
      PPM-1, a PP2Cα/β phosphatase, regulates axon termination and synapse formation in Caenorhabditis elegans
      Genetics, 2011 Dec 1

Overview

Research Description

Dr. Brock Grill's overarching interest is understanding how signaling influences development and function of the nervous system. His team's major research directions include: 1) Using in vivo proteomics to decipher how ubiquitin ligase activity and intracellular signaling hubs affect axon termination, synapse maintenance and neuron function. 2) Using engineered forward genetic approaches to interrogate how u-opioid receptor sensitivity and tolerance are regulated.

Ultimately, Dr. Grill's lab aims to identify new molecular targets for treating neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative disease, and opioid addiction/withdrawal.

See a full list of publications on PubMed.