CT-guided percutaneous infrazygomatic radiofrequency neurolysis through foramen rotundum to treat V2 trigeminal neuralgia.

Objective: Percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation or neurolysis of Gasserian ganglion through foramen ovale (FO) is the classical approach to treat trigeminal neuralgia (TN). However, it has been technically challenging when individual trigeminal sub-branch nerve block is desired through this approach. We have thus developed a novel computed tomograph-guided technique to block the V2 trigeminal nerve through foramen rotundum (FR).

The osteoarthritis knee model: psychophysical characteristics and putative outcomes.

Unlabelled: The knee osteoarthritis (KOA) model is a convenient and coherent archetype that is frequently used in pharmaceutical trials of drugs with analgesic and/or anti-inflammatory properties; yet, little is known about its specific pathophysiology. The presumed chronic inflammatory etiology of osteoarthritis suggests that nociceptive processes and neurogenic inflammation predominate in this condition. However, most chronic pain conditions are associated with changes in peripheral and central processing.

Hypoesthesia in the distal residual limb of amputees.

Objective: To test the emerging hypothesis that there is polymodal fiber degeneration/loss in distal residual limbs (DRL) of amputees.

Design: Prospective qualitative and quantitative psychophysical testing.

Setting: A pain research center at an urban academic rehabilitation hospital.

TTK kinase is essential for the centrosomal localization of TACC2.

Chromosome segregation in mitosis is orchestrated by dynamic interaction between spindle microtubule and the kinetochore. Our recent ultrastructural studies demonstrated a dynamic distribution of TTK, from the kinetochore to the centrosome, as cell enters into anaphase. Here, we show that a centrosomal protein TACC2 is phosphorylated in mitosis by TTK signaling pathway.

NEK2A interacts with MAD1 and possibly functions as a novel integrator of the spindle checkpoint signaling.

Chromosome segregation in mitosis is orchestrated by protein kinase signaling cascades. A biochemical cascade named spindle checkpoint ensures the spatial and temporal order of chromosome segregation during mitosis. Here we report that spindle checkpoint protein MAD1 interacts with NEK2A, a human orthologue of the Aspergillus nidulans NIMA kinase.