2.4. Rapamycin administration

The mTOR inhibitor rapamycin was purchased from Chem Scene LLC (Monmouth Junction, NJ, USA) and was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to generate a 10 µg µl⁻¹ stock solution. The appropriate volume of the stock solution needed to inject mice (2.5 mg/kg body weight) was dissolved in 200 µl phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS). For the vehicle control condition, mice were injected with an equivalent amount of DMSO dissolved in 200 µl of PBS. Immediately following the synergist ablation surgeries, vehicle or rapamycin solutions were administrated via intraperitoneal injections; injections were repeated every 24 hr for up to 14 days (Goodman, Frey, et al., 2011; Goodman, Mabrey, et al., 2011).