Keratoacanthoma is a controversial entity. Some consider keratoacanthoma as a variant of squamous cell carcinoma, whereas others see it as a distinct self-resolving squamoproliferative lesion. Our ...objective is to examine the relationship of keratoacanthoma with squamous cell carcinoma and normal skin by using DNA microarrays. DNA microarray studies were performed on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded blocks from ten cases of actinic keratoacanthoma utilizing the U133plus2.0 array. These results were compared with our previously developed microarray database of ten squamous cell carcinoma and ten normal skin samples. Keratoacanthoma demonstrated 1449 differentially expressed genes in comparison with squamous cell carcinoma (>5-fold change: P<0.01) with 908 genes upregulated and 541 genes downregulated. Keratoacanthoma showed 2435 differentially expressed genes in comparison with normal skin (>5-fold change: P<0.01) with 1085 genes upregulated and 1350 genes downregulated. The most upregulated genes, comparing keratoacanthoma with normal skin included MALAT1, S100A8, CDR1, TPM4, and CALM1. The most downregulated genes included SCGB2A2, DCD, THRSP, ADIPOQ, adiponectin, and ADH1B. The molecular biological pathway analysis comparing keratoacanthoma with normal skin showed that cellular development, cellular growth and proliferation, cell death/apoptosis, and cell cycle pathways are prominently involved in the pathogenesis of keratoacanthoma. The most enriched canonical pathways were clathrin-mediated endocytosis signaling, molecular mechanisms of cancer and integrin signaling. The distinctive gene expression profile of keratoacanthoma reveals that it is molecularly distinct from squamous cell carcinoma. The molecular pathways and genes differentially expressed in comparing keratoacanthoma with normal skin suggest that keratoacanthoma is a neoplasm that can regress due to upregulation of the cell death/apoptosis pathway.
•We verified the effect of applying anode edge-termination to AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diode with gated ohmic anode structure through device fabrication and simulation.•By merging two types of ...structures (gated ohmic anode and edge-termination), we could improve both forward characteristic and the reverse characteristic having a trade-off relationship with each other.•And it was confirmed that the actual breakdown voltage and reverse leakage current were increased by 200 V and reduced by 5 times respectively.•The pulsed I-V response could also be improved from 16% to 3.5% with no forward current characteristics degradation.
We have investigated the effect of an edge-terminated structure in the anode of a gated ohmic anode AlGaN/GaN lateral Schottky Barrier Diode (SBD) device. The edge-terminated structure in the anode serves as a kind of field plate, which suppresses a reverse leakage current and improves a switching characteristic by reducing trapping effect at the active region. According to our two-dimensional simulation results, the electric field concentration near the edge of the anode was relatively reduced by the edge-terminated structure. For the fabricated devices, it was exhibited that the diode with proposed structure has lower reverse leakage current density without degradation of the forward current density, compared to the diode without the edge-terminated structure. In addition, the pulse response degradation was significantly improved from 16 to 3.5% at the forward voltage of 1.5 V when the reverse voltage of −100 V was applied.
Recent immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated Sry-related HMG-Box gene 10 (SOX10) expression in malignant melanomas, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors, a subset of breast carcinomas, ...and gliomas. SOX10 has shown important clinical utility in its ability to detect desmoplastic and spindle cell melanomas. To date, most publications have employed a research use-only goat polyclonal SOX10 antibody for immunohistochemical staining.
To describe the development of a new mouse monoclonal SOX10 antibody (BC34) and evaluate its immunohistochemical staining profile in a wide range of normal and neoplastic tissues, with an emphasis on melanoma.
SOX10 antibody was optimized for staining using a polymer detection system and visualization with diaminobenzidine.
In normal tissues, SOX10 was expressed in skin melanocytes and eccrine cells, breast myoepithelial and lobular epithelial cells, salivary gland myoepithelial cells, peripheral nerve Schwann cells, and central nervous system glial cells. SOX10 was expressed in 238 of 257 melanomas (92.6%), including 50 of 51 of both spindle cell and desmoplastic melanomas (98%). SOX10 was expressed in 100% of nevi (20 of 20) and schwannomas (28 of 28). In other neoplasms, SOX10 was expressed in 18 of 109 invasive ductal breast carcinomas (16.5%). All other carcinomas were negative for SOX10. SOX10 was identified in 25 of 52 central nervous system neoplasms, primarily in astrocytomas (22 of 41; 53.7%), and in 4 of 99 various sarcomas examined (4.0%).
The newly developed mouse monoclonal SOX10 antibody BC34 is highly sensitive and specific for malignant melanoma, including desmoplastic and spindle cell variants, and appears highly suitable for clinical use.
Pilar cysts are common squamous-lined cysts that typically occur on the scalp. They are believed to arise from the isthmus of anagen hairs or from the sac surrounding catagen and telogen hairs. The ...authors describe a rare case of a pilar cyst with prominent ductal differentiation, presumably of eccrine derivation. Sweat duct differentiation has been described in a myriad of cutaneous neoplasms and rarely within epidermoid cysts. The authors could only find one other case in the literature describing a pilar cyst with sebaceous and apocrine differentiation. The clinicopathologic findings are described here.
Most adenocarcinomas of the mediastinum are metastatic lesions. Primary thymic adenocarcinomas are extremely rare neoplasms. We could find only 12 cases reported in the literature; of these 12, only ...4 were of the mucinous subtype.
We report 2 additional cases of the mucinous subtype, including a previously unreported mucinous variant with numerous psammoma bodies.
The first case in a 61-year-old woman resembled a mucinous (colloid) carcinoma of other organs such as the breast and colon. It consisted of islands and strips of tumor cells floating in large pools of extracellular mucin. A unique feature of this tumor was the presence of numerous psammoma bodies. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for cytokeratin (CK) 7 and negative for CD5. The second case in an 82-year-old woman was a mucinous adenocarcinoma arising from a thymic cyst with areas of transition from benign to dysplastic epithelium. The tumor cells formed dilated glands, cords, and small nests that infiltrated the thymic cyst wall and exhibited evidence of mucin production. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for CK 7 and focally positive for both CD5 and CK 5/6.
Mucinous adenocarcinoma, with or without, psammoma bodies, may be of primary thymic origin and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of malignant mediastinal tumors. These 2 cases provide further documentation of the rare occurrence of primary mucinous adenocarcinomas of the thymic gland.
The effects of treadmill exercise and swimming on cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus and the involvement of opioid receptors were investigated via 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU) ...immunohistochemistry. Sprague–Dawley rats of the running groups were made to run on treadmill for 30 min each day, while those of the swimming groups were made to swim for 5 min each day over 3 consecutive days. In addition, intensity-dependency of the effects of running and swimming on cell proliferation was investigated. The present results demonstrate that both treadmill running and swimming increase the number of BrdU-labeled cells in the dentate gyrus and these increasing effects are more potent in light intensity and 5 min swimming groups. Treatment with naloxone increases cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus in all groups, although this increase is statistically insignificant.
Actinic keratosis is widely believed to be a neoplastic lesion and a precursor to invasive squamous cell carcinoma. However, there has been some debate as to whether actinic keratosis is in fact ...actually squamous cell carcinoma and should be treated as such. As the clinical management and prognosis of patients is widely held to be different for each of these lesions, our goal was to identify unique gene signatures using DNA microarrays to discriminate among normal skin, actinic keratosis, and squamous cell carcinoma, and examine the molecular pathways of carcinogenesis involved in the progression from normal skin to squamous cell carcinoma. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded blocks of skin: five normal skins (pooled), six actinic keratoses, and six squamous cell carcinomas were retrieved. The RNA was extracted and amplified. The labeled targets were hybridized to the Affymetrix human U133plus2.0 array and the acquisition and initial quantification of array images were performed using the GCOS (Affymetrix). The subsequent data analyses were performed using DNA-Chip Analyzer and Partek Genomic Suite 6.4. Significant differential gene expression (>2 fold change, P<0.05) was seen with 382 differentially expressed genes between squamous cell carcinoma and normal skin, 423 differentially expressed genes between actinic keratosis and normal skin, and 9 differentially expressed genes between actinic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma. The differentially expressed genes offer the possibility of using DNA microarrays as a molecular diagnostic tool to distinguish between normal skin, actinic keratosis, and squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, the differentially expressed genes and their molecular pathways could be potentially used as prognostic markers or targets for future therapeutic innovations.