Photodynamic Therapy for Benign Cutaneous Neurofibromas Using Aminolevulinic Acid Topical Application and 633 nm Red Light Illumination.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) has no current effective treatments beyond surgery. Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) has the potential to provide a less invasive treatment modality. Based on murine data, we hypothesized PDT could be used for the treatment of cutaneous neurofibromas (cNF).

The microRNA landscape of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a keratinocyte-derived skin tumor. It is the second-most-common cancer affecting the Caucasian population and is responsible for >20% of all skin-cancer-related deaths. The estimated incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer in the USA is >1000000 cases per year, of which roughly 20-30% are squamous cell carcinoma.

Chemical Tattoo Treatment Leading to Systemic Cobalt Hypersensitivity.

An otherwise healthy 36-year-old Caucasian woman, without prior history of atopic dermatitis or eczema, presented to an outside dermatologist with a generalized, severely pruritic eruption involving the entire body except the face. One month previously, she had used a 50% trichloroacetic acid tattoo removal solution on a blue-colored tattoo on the medial aspect of the left ankle. The patient's eruption persisted for 7 months, and after several attempts to slowly taper her prednisone dose, she presented to our institution.

A Rare Case of Vancomycin-Induced Linear Immunoglobulin A Bullous Dermatosis.

Linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LABD) is an autoimmune vesiculobullous disease, which is typically idiopathic but can also rarely be caused by medications or infections. Vancomycin is the most common drug associated with LABD. Lesions typically appear 24 hours to 15 days after the first dose of vancomycin.

Incidence of and Risk Factors for Skin Cancer in Organ Transplant Recipients in the United States.

Importance: Skin cancer is the most common malignancy occurring after organ transplantation. Although previous research has reported an increased risk of skin cancer in solid organ transplant recipients (OTRs), no study has estimated the posttransplant population-based incidence in the United States.

Objective: To determine the incidence and evaluate the risk factors for posttransplant skin cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), melanoma (MM), and Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) in a cohort of US OTRs receiving a primary organ transplant in 2003 or 2008.

Building a global teledermatology collaboration.

Skin disease is common in low-resource countries and is associated with significant morbidity. The disease burden is often heightened by lack of access to adequate diagnosis and treatment. Teledermatology is a growing healthcare delivery modality that allows access to subspecialty care at a distance.

MicroRNA-135b Regulates Leucine Zipper Tumor Suppressor 1 in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common skin malignancy and it presents a therapeutic challenge in organ transplant recipient patients. Despite the need, there are only a few targeted drug treatment options. Recent studies have revealed a pivotal role played by microRNAs (miRNAs) in multiple cancers, but only a few studies tested their function in cSCC.

Disseminated Nocardia infection presenting as hemorrhagic pustules and ecthyma in a woman with systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.

Background: Nocardia is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause disseminated infection in immunocompromised hosts. The most common type of skin lesion reported with disseminated Nocardia is a subcutaneous nodule; however, there are reports with unusual cutaneous presentations. Long term corticosteroid treatment is one of the largest risk factors for developing disseminated Nocardia.

A synthetic superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetic EUK-207 mitigates radiation dermatitis and promotes wound healing in irradiated rat skin.

In the event of a radionuclear attack or nuclear accident, the skin would be the first barrier exposed to radiation, though skin injury can progress over days to years following exposure. Chronic oxidative stress has been implicated as being a potential contributor to the progression of delayed radiation-induced injury to skin and other organs. To examine the causative role of oxidative stress in delayed radiation-induced skin injury, including impaired wound healing, we tested a synthetic superoxide dismutase (SOD)/catalase mimetic, EUK-207, in a rat model of combined skin irradiation and wound injury.

Two-dimensional dielectric imaging for dermatologic screening: a feasibility study.

Background/purpose: The diagnosis of skin neoplasia can be very challenging, given the low sensitivity and specificity of traditional methods of diagnosis which are based on visual appearance. Techniques which are based on the dielectric properties of cells can improve the diagnostic accuracy of screening techniques; as an example, point-contact coaxial probes for dielectric measurement can improve diagnostic accuracy. Unfortunately, these probes are not well suited for two-dimensional spatial imaging of the skin surface, given that they must be manually scanned over the skin surface.

Sequential intramolecular epitope spreading of humoral responses to human BPAG2 in a transgenic model.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a subepidermal autoimmune disease characterized by a humoral response to an epidermal basement membrane (BM) component, BP antigen 2 (BPAG2). BP patients have IgG autoantibodies against an immunodominant BPAG2 extracellular domain termed NC16A as well as additional epitopes located both in the intracellular and extracellular domains (ICD and ECD, respectively) of this autoantigen. To study the evolution of humoral responses to BPAG2, sequential serum samples obtained from C57BL/6Ncr mice grafted with otherwise syngeneic skin from transgenic mice expressing human BPAG2 (hBPAG2) in epidermal BM were studied for IgG reactivity to seven ECD and ICD hBPAG2 epitopes.

A novel humanized neonatal autoimmune blistering skin disease model induced by maternally transferred antibodies.

All mammal neonates receive maternal Abs for protection against pathogenic organisms in the postnatal environment. However, neonates can experience serious adverse reactions if the Abs transferred from the mother recognize self-molecules as autoAgs. In this study, we describe a novel model for autoimmune disease induced by transferred maternal Abs in genetically transformed Ag-humanized mice progeny.

Transient anti-CD40L co-stimulation blockade prevents immune responses against human bullous pemphigoid antigen 2: implications for gene therapy.

Skin grafts from mice expressing human bullous pemphigoid antigen 2 (hBPAG2) in epidermal basement membrane elicit hBPAG2-specific IgG and graft loss in wild-type (Wt) recipients. Graft loss was dependent on CD4+ T cells and correlated with the production and tissue deposition of hBPAG2-specific IgG. To explore the role of CD40/CD40 ligand (CD40L) interaction in this model, Wt mice grafted with transgenic (Tg) skin were treated with hamster anti-CD40L mAb MR1.

Bullous pemphigoid and related subepidermal autoimmune blistering diseases.

The pemphigoid group of autoimmune blistering diseases includes distinct entities (bullous pemphigoid, mucous membrane pemphigoid, pemphigoid gestationis, linear IgA dermatosis and lichen planus pemphigoides) that are characterized by relatively consistent clinical, histologic and immunopathologic findings. Patients with these disorders have antibasement membrane autoantibodies that often display pathogenic (blister-forming) activity following passive transfer to experimental animals. Interestingly, such autoantibodies target important structural proteins that promote adhesion of epidermis to epidermal basement membrane in human skin.