The current opioid crisis urgently calls for developing non-addictive pain medications. Progress has been slow, highlighting the need to uncover targets with unique mechanisms of action. Extracellular adenosine alleviates pain by activating the adenosine A1 receptor (A1R).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this paper, we present a detailed protocol for microinjecting DNA, RNA, or protein solutions into fertilized eggs of the multicolored Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis, under a stereomicroscope equipped with an injection apparatus. is an emerging model organism for studying various biological fields, showing intraspecific polymorphisms exhibiting highly diverse color patterns on the elytra. Here, we describe how to rear ladybird beetles in a laboratory and obtain fertilized eggs for microinjection experiments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonoclonal antibody (mAb) technology has significantly contributed to basic research and clinical settings for various purposes, including protective and therapeutic drugs. However, a rapid and convenient method to generate high-affinity antigen-specific mAbs has not yet been reported. Here, we developed a rapid, easy, and low-cost protocol for antigen-specific mAb production from single memory B cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present the case of a 54-year-old woman who was diagnosed with intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct (IPNB) in the remnant intrapancreatic bile duct, 37 years after surgery for congenital biliary dilatation. Endoscopic ultrasonography revealed a papillary, low-echoic mass in the intrapancreatic bile duct, and peroral cholangioscopy revealed a papillary mucosa. A pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed, and the patient was pathologically diagnosed with type 1 pancreatobiliary-type IPNB with associated invasive carcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSafe, effective pain management remains one of the biggest challenges following surgical procedures. Despite widespread recognition of this problem and advances in the mechanistic understanding of pain signaling, post-surgical pain is often undermanaged, with opioid use remaining the clinical standard. As an alternative to current oral, systemic treatments, a degradable bupivacaine-loaded poly(ester urea) (PEU) thin film has been developed to deliver bupivacaine directly to the site of injury over an extended duration.
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