Sclerotic atrophic plaques associated with a tattoo.

Lichen sclerosus is a chronic inflammatory disease, usually of the anogenital area, that causes intractable itching and soreness. Less commonly, it may have extragenital involvement in 15 to 20% of cases. Lichen sclerosus has been reported at sites of injury as a Koebner phenomenon.

Cutaneous pigmentation in health and disease: novel and well-established players.

Cutaneous pigment formation and aberration in disease are addressed. Dynoodt et al. (this issue) present data on a specific micro RNA that downregulates proteins involved in melanogenesis and melanosome movement.

Melanocytes: a window into the nervous system.

Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells that originate from the dorsal portions of the closing neural tube in vertebrate embryos. Similar to neurons, they are derived from pluripotent neural crest cells that differentiate into numerous cell lineages. The development of melanocytes and neurons, as well as their differentiated function, within the mature tissue, is influenced by signaling molecules produced by neighboring cells.

Inhibition of melanoma angiogenesis by telomere homolog oligonucleotides.

Telomere homolog oligonucleotides (T-oligos) activate an innate telomere-based program that leads to multiple anticancer effects. T-oligos act at telomeres to initiate signaling through the Werner protein and ATM kinase. We wanted to determine if T-oligos have antiangiogenic effects.