Lupus erythematosus and dermatomyositis.

Dr. Irwin Braverman, a luminary in our field of dermatology, united his love of internal medicine with dermatology to pioneer our understanding of the cutaneous manifestations of systemic disease. His meticulous documentation of physical examination findings in his book Skin Signs of Systemic Disease became fundamental to the training of dermatologists worldwide for decades.

HIF-1 regulates pathogenic cytotoxic T cells in lupus skin disease.

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is a disfiguring autoimmune skin disease characterized by an inflammatory infiltrate rich in T cells, which are strongly implicated in tissue damage. How these cells adapt to the skin environment and promote tissue inflammation and damage is not known. In lupus nephritis, we previously identified an inflammatory gene program in kidney-infiltrating T cells that is dependent on HIF-1, a transcription factor critical for the cellular and developmental response to hypoxia as well as inflammation-associated signals.

Depression and Anxiety in Patients With Lichen Sclerosus.

This case-control study uses data from the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program to investigate whether depression and anxiety are associated with lichen sclerosus among women.

Lack of association between pandemic chilblains and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

An increased incidence of chilblains has been observed during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and attributed to viral infection. Direct evidence of this relationship has been limited, however, as most cases do not have molecular evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection with PCR or antibodies. We enrolled a cohort of 23 patients who were diagnosed and managed as having SARS-CoV-2-associated skin eruptions (including 21 pandemic chilblains [PC]) during the first wave of the pandemic in Connecticut.

Post-COVID-19 vaccination IgA vasculitis in an adult.

Leukocytoclastic vasculitis has been reported in the setting of COVID-19 infection and post-COVID-19 vaccination. We report a case of IgA vasculitis (IgAV) post-COVID-19 vaccination, with immunoglobulin A (IgA) immune deposits in the skin and renal involvement. SARS-CoV spike protein immunohistochemical staining was negative.

Delayed Localized Hypersensitivity Reactions to the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine: A Case Series.

Importance: In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, 2 mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) received emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration in December 2020. Some patients in the US have developed delayed localized cutaneous vaccine reactions that have been dubbed "COVID arm."

Objective: To describe the course of localized cutaneous injection-site reactions to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, subsequent reactions to the second vaccine dose, and to characterize the findings of histopathologic examination of the reaction.

Epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa treated with dupilumab.

Epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa (EBP) is a variant of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa characterized by intense pruritus and prurigo nodularis-like lesions. While medical therapies for EBP exist, current treatments are not consistently effective, and symptoms often cause decreased quality of life. Here, we report two cases of EBP treated with dupilumab, which decreased symptoms of pruritus and improved skin findings.

Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus: Current and Future Pathogenesis-Directed Therapies.

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is an autoimmune disease of the skin with significant morbidity. Current treatments are often inadequate to control disease and there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapies for this potentially debilitating disease, underscoring an unmet medical need. Recent insights into disease pathogenesis have implicated innate and adaptive immune components, including type I and type III interferons in the development of CLE.

Cooperative recruitment of HMGB1 during V(D)J recombination through interactions with RAG1 and DNA.

During V(D)J recombination, recombination activating gene (RAG)1 and RAG2 bind and cleave recombination signal sequences (RSSs), aided by the ubiquitous DNA-binding/-bending proteins high-mobility group box protein (HMGB)1 or HMGB2. HMGB1/2 play a critical, although poorly understood, role in vitro in the assembly of functional RAG-RSS complexes, into which HMGB1/2 stably incorporate. The mechanism of HMGB1/2 recruitment is unknown, although an interaction with RAG1 has been suggested.

Promoters, enhancers, and transcription target RAG1 binding during V(D)J recombination.

V(D)J recombination assembles antigen receptor genes in a well-defined order during lymphocyte development. This sequential process has long been understood in the context of the accessibility model, which states that V(D)J recombination is regulated by controlling the ability of the recombination machinery to gain access to its chromosomal substrates. Indeed, many features of "open" chromatin correlate with V(D)J recombination, and promoters and enhancers have been strongly implicated in creating a recombinase-accessible configuration in neighboring chromatin.