A Rare Duodenal Carcinosarcoma: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Carcinosarcoma is a biphasic malignant tumor comprising both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components; its occurrence in the duodenum is very rare. We herein report the case of a 96-year-old woman with duodenal carcinosarcoma showing rapid growth within the past year. The tumor was found to be bulging into the lumen and predominantly comprised sarcomatoid components with focal positive staining for cytokeratin. Therefore, the tumor was diagnosed as duodenal carcinosarcoma. The clinical information of the present case and our literature review of the 12 cases reported to date will help physicians diagnose and treat this rare tumor.

Disappearance of multiple pancreatic cysts after prednisolone treatment in a patient with autoimmune pancreatitis.

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) with multiple pancreatic cysts is rare. The severe narrowing of the branched pancreatic ducts found in active AIP with a chronic pancreatitis background may have caused pancreatic juice outflow obstruction, resulting in multiple cysts. Oral steroid therapy resolved the stenosis, resulting in disappearance of the cysts.

Bridging Adhesion of a Protein onto an Inorganic Surface Using Self-Assembled Dual-Functionalized Spheres.

For the bridging adhesion of different classes of materials in their intact functional states, the adhesion of biomolecules onto inorganic surfaces is a necessity. A new molecular design strategy for bridging adhesion was demonstrated by the introduction of two independent recognition groups on the periphery of spherical complexes self-assembled from metal ions (M) and bidentate ligands (L). These dual-functionalized M12L24 spheres were quantitatively synthesized in one step from two ligands, bearing either a biotin for streptavidin recognition or a titania-binding aptamer, and Pd(II) ions. The selective recognition of titania surfaces was achieved by ligands with hexapeptide aptamers (Arg-Lys-Leu-Pro-Asp-Ala: minTBP-1), whose fixation ability was enhanced by the accumulation effect on the surface of the M12L24 spheres. These well-defined spherical structures can be specifically tailored to promote interactions with both titania and streptavidin simultaneously without detrimentally affecting either recognition motif. The irreversible immobilization of the spheres onto titania was revealed quantitatively by quartz crystal microbalance measurements, and the adhesion of streptavidin to the titania surface mediated by the biotin surrounding the spheres was visually demonstrated by lithographic patterning experiments.