Mohs micrographic surgery: a treatment method for many non-melanocytic skin cancers.

Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is a breakthrough surgical technique that has changed the management of neoplasms in dermatology. Through continued practice and evolution, MMS now can successfully treat a variety of rare non-melanocytic cutaneous malignancies for which achieving remission and the optimal aesthetic result after surgery was previously challenging. Mohs micrographic surgery has utility for conditions besides melanoma.

Diet and acne: an exploratory survey study of patient beliefs.

Background: In the past, medical literature reflected that diet was not a proven cause of acne. However, studies in recent years have substantiated a link between certain dietary factors and acne. It is unclear whether patients are aware of recent research findings.

Cutaneous Protothecosis in a Patient with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Protothecosis is a rare infection, which has the potential to cause severe disease in patients with underlying immunosuppression. We describe a case of an elderly female with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), as well as other risk factors, who presented with pustular and erythematous plaques, initially presumed to be leukemia cutis. A biopsy with special stains revealed the lesions to be cutaneous protothecosis, thus presenting a most unusual concurrence of disease entities.

Motor Function Deficits Following Chronic Prenatal Ethanol Exposure are Linked to Impairments in Insulin/IGF, Notch and Wnt Signaling in the Cerebellum.

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is associated with deficits in cerebellar function that can persist through adolescence. Previous studies demonstrated striking inhibition of insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling in ethanol-exposed cerebella.

Objectives: We sought to determine if FASD-induced impairments in motor function were associated with deficits in insulin/IGF signaling in juvenile cerebella.

Chronic alcohol-induced hepatic insulin resistance and endoplasmic reticulum stress ameliorated by peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor-δ agonist treatment.

Background And Aim: Chronic alcoholic liver disease is associated with hepatic insulin resistance, dysregulated lipid metabolism with increased toxic lipid (ceramide) accumulation, lipid peroxidation, and oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) agonists are insulin sensitizers that can restore hepatic insulin responsiveness in both alcohol and non-alcohol-related steatohepatitis. Herein, we demonstrate that treatment with a PPAR-δ agonist enhances insulin signaling and reduces the severities of ER stress and ceramide accumulation in an experimental model of ethanol-induced steatohepatitis.

Differences in the function of three conserved E-boxes of the muscle creatine kinase gene in cultured myocytes and in transgenic mouse skeletal and cardiac muscle.

The 1256-base pair enhancer-promoter of the mouse muscle creatine kinase gene includes three CAnnTG E-boxes that are conserved among mammals and have flanking and middle sequences conforming to consensus muscle regulatory factor binding sites. This study seeks to determine whether these E-boxes are critical for muscle creatine kinase expression in physiologically distinct muscles. Mutations of the "right" and "left" E-boxes in the enhancer decreased expression in cultured skeletal myocytes approximately 10- and 2-fold, respectively, whereas a "promoter" E-box mutation had little effect.

Transgenic and tissue culture analyses of the muscle creatine kinase enhancer Trex control element in skeletal and cardiac muscle indicate differences in gene expression between muscle types.

The muscle creatine kinase (MCK) gene is expressed at high levels only in differentiated skeletal and cardiac muscle. The activity of the cloned enhancer-promoter has previously been shown to be dependent on the Trex element which is specifically bound by a yet unidentified nuclear factor, TrexBF. We have further characterized the function of the Trex site by comparing wild-type and Trex-mutated MCK transgenes in five mouse skeletal muscles: quadriceps, extensor digitorum longus (EDL), soleus, diaphragm, and distal tongue, as well as in heart ventricular muscle.