Management of skin cancer in solid organ transplant recipients.

The incidence of catastrophic skin cancer in the solid organ transplant population continues to rise. As transplant patients are living longer, it is likely that dermatologists will be looking after an increasing number of organ transplant recipients. The key to managing this patient population lies in a multidisciplinary approach encompassing patient education, skin screening in the immediate post-transplant period, regular follow-up, and rapid referral to a dermatologist once skin lesions suspicious for skin cancer are diagnosed.

Regulation of tissue factor in microvascular dermal endothelial cells.

Inflammation is accompanied by activation of the coagulation cascade, manifested by thrombosis and fibrin generation. Whereas endothelial cells normally provide a nonthrombogenic surface, inflammatory mediators may induce the expression of tissue factor, rendering their surface thrombogenic. In order to define the mechanisms regulating the expression of tissue factor in the skin microvasculature, we examined tissue factor expression in human dermal microvascular endothelial cells.

FKBP12 modulation of the binding of the skeletal ryanodine receptor onto the II-III loop of the dihydropyridine receptor.

In skeletal muscle, excitation-contraction coupling involves a functional interaction between the ryanodine receptor (RyR) and the dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR). The domain corresponding to Thr(671)-Leu(690) of the II-III loop of the skeletal DHPR alpha(1)-subunit is able to regulate RyR properties and calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum, whereas the domain corresponding to Glu(724)-Pro(760) antagonizes this effect. Two peptides, covering these sequences (peptide A(Sk) and C(Sk), respectively) were immobilized on polystyrene beads.