Objective To investigate the effects of chemokine CCL18 on the proliferation and invasion of a human melanoma cell line A375. Methods Human peripheral blood monocytes were isolated from healthy volunteers, cultured in vitro and divided into two groups to be induced by IL-4 for 48 hours or remain untreated. A375 cells were classified into 3 groups to be cultured with IL-4-induced monocytes, untreated monocytes or CCL18 of 200 g/L for various durations. A375 cells receiving no treatment served as the control.MTT assay was performed to detect the proliferation of A375 cells, chemotaxis test and Matrigel-transwell assay to evaluate the chemotaxis and invasion ability of A375 cells, and chicken chorioalllantoic memebrane (CAM)was used to detect the effect of CCL18 on tumor angiogenesis. Results The proliferation of A375 cells was statistically accelerated by IL-4-induced monocytes and untreated monocytes, but unaffected by CCL18.Matrigel-transwell assay revealed that IL-4-induced monocytes and CCL18 promoted the chemotaxis and invasion ability of A375 cells (all P＜0.05). Tumor angiogenesis was also increased by IL-4-induced monocytes and CCL18 (both P ＜ 0.05). Conclusion The chemokine CCL18 can promote the invasion ability of A375 cells and tumor angiogenesis.

Objective To investigate the expression of insulin-like growth factor-Ⅱ(IGF-Ⅱ) mRNAbinding protein-3 (IMP3) in tissue of benign nevi and malignant melanoma,and to evaluate the role of IMP3 in the development and diagnosis of malignant melanoma.Methods Immunohistochemistry was performed to measure the expression of IMP3 in tissue samples from 28 cases of malignant melanoma,8 Spitz nevi,6 dysplastic nevi and 25 benign nevi.Results Immunohistochemically,IMP3 was observed in 23 of 28 melanoma samples,4 of 8 Spitz nevus samples and 2 of 6 dysplastic nevus samples,but not in benign nevus samples.The expression level of IMP3 wag significantly higher in tissue of melanoma than in that of Spitz nevi and dysplastic nevi (both P<0.05),also higher in tissue of aggressive melanoma than that of melanoma in situ(P<0.01).Conclusions IMP3 seems to be a biomarker for the progression of benign nevi to malignant melanoma,and may be utilized to distinguish melanoma from benign nevi.

Objective To analyze clinical and pathological features of dermatomyositis with panniculitis as a skin manifestation.Methods Clinical data were collected from 9 cases of dermatomyositis with panniculitis as a skin manifestation in Department of Dermatology of Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University from October 2012 to July 2016,and their clinical and pathological features were analyzed.Results Of the 9 cases,6 were female and 3 were male,and the age ranged from 28 to 73 years.Panniculitis lesions of the 9 patients all manifested as painful indurated plaques or nodules on the buttock,thigh,waist,back,abdomen,upper extremities and cheeks.These lesions occurred before,after or simultaneously with the onset of characteristic skin and muscle lesions of dermatomyositis,especially preceded the onset of characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis by 30 years in 1 case.Histopathological examination of lesions showed liquefaction degeneration of basal cells,inflammatory infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells around blood vessels,in the fat lobules as well as between the lobules and septa in the dermis.The necrosis and calcification of lipocytes,lipomembranous changes,fibrinoid necrosis of damaged vessel walls and microvascular occlusion were observed in some cases.Because panniculitis preceded the onset of characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis,2 patients were misdiagnosed with lupus panniculitis and morphea profunda for several times.Most patients had good response to systemic glucocorticoids combined with immunosuppressive agents,while the patients with lipomembranous fat necrosis had poor response to the combination therapy.Conclusions Panniculitis lesions of dermatomyositis are histologically characteristic,and may do not coincide with the onset of characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis.If panniculitis lesions precede characteristic lesions of dermatomyositis,patients will be easily misdiagnosed.Thus,persistent follow-up visit will be of great importance for the diagnosis.

Objective To investigate the role of hMSH2 in the pathogenesis of sporadic insulinomas and to determine whether the expression of hMSH2 could be used to differentiate benign sporadic insulinomas from malignant ones. Methods Fifty-five sporadic insulinomas (40 benign and 15 malignant tumors) resected from 50 patients were obtained. Expression of hMSH2 was detected by immunohistochemistry staining. DNA was obtained from micradissected tissue. Loss of heterozygnsity (LOH) of hMSH2 gene was detected by PCR-LOH. 6 microsatellite markers were selected on 3 chromosomes, and microsatellite instability (MSI) status of tumor tissue were detected by PCR. The findings were analyzed in relation to the clinicopathological characteristics. Results Down-regulation of hMSH2 expression was found in 13% of 55 sporadic insulinomas. LOH of the hMSH2 gene was not present in 55 insulinomas. High frequency MSI (MSI-H, MSI occurred in at least 2 out of 6 sites) was present in 36% (20/55) of all the insulinomas. Down-regulation of hMSH2 expression was found in 33% of the 15 malignant tumors, while it was 5% in benign tumors (P < 0. 05). Conclusions Down-regulation of mismatch repair gene hMSH2 may be correlated with the degree of tumor malignancy. The expression of hMSH2 could be used as a potential marker for distinguishing benign insulinoma from malignant ones.

Objective To firstly report 4 cases of dermatomyositis characterized by painful palmar eruptions complicated by fatal rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) in China.Methods Four patients with dermatomyositis with painful palmar eruptions complicated by fatal RP-ILD were enrolled from the Department of Dermatology,Zhongshan Hospital,Fudan University between December 2014 and April 2017,and their clinical and pathological features were analyzed.Results Among these patients,3 were female and 1 was male.Their age ranged from 47 to 59 years.Of the 4 patients,3 had no muscular involvement.All of the 4 patients had multiple solid red papules or nodules on the bilateral palms,palmar and lateral surfaces of fingers,which preceded,followed or concurred with the onset of other skin lesions of dermatomyositis.The occurrence of type Ⅰ respiratory failure was preceded by 3 weeks to 5 months of painful palmar eruptions in the 4 patients.Early-stage palmar eruptions were easily misdiagnosed as contact dermatitis,eczema or erythema multiforme.Histopathological examination of the skin lesions on the finger palmar surface showed perivascular infiltration of a few lymphocytes in the dermis,and deposition of varying amounts of mucin-like substances around blood vessels and appendages.Of the 4 patients,3 showed positive staining for anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 antibody.Although the 4 patients received anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapies,they all finally died of respiratory failure.Conclusions Dermatomyositis with painful palmar eruptions may indicate the occurrence of fatal RP-ILD,and early biopsy of skin lesions is needed to help to identify the disease.Immunosuppressive treatment should be performed timely to improve the prognosis in these patients.

Objective:To determine classification and clinical features of morphea.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on epidemiological information about clinical manifestations of and laboratory data from 180 patients with morphea, who visited Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University from January 2010 to July 2021. Two-independent-sample t test was used to compare the age at onset between genders, and chi-square test to analyze differences in clinical characteristics between different genders and subtypes. Results:Among the 180 patients, 123 were females and 57 were males, with a male-to-female ratio of 1∶2.16. The age at onset of morphea was 28.69 ± 17.97 years for female patients, and 29.90 ± 20.67 years for male patients. Among them, linear morphea was the most common type in this study (68 cases, 37.78%), followed by plaque morphea (63 cases, 35.00%), mixed morphea (28 cases, 15.56%) and deep morphea (21 cases, 11.67%). The disease occurred in all age groups, but the age at onset significantly varied among different clinical subtypes ( F = 5.95, P < 0.001). No significant difference was observed in the age at onset or proportion of clinical subtypes between genders ( F = 0.15, P = 0.696; χ2 =2.88, P = 0.410). Atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini (APP) was very common (62 cases, 34.44%) in the 180 patients, which mainly manifested as plaques or linear lesions, and 26 out of 45 patients with plaque APP and 11 out of 17 with linear APP were both accompanied by other subtypes of morphea. Among the 75 patients tested for autoantibody profiles, 34 (45.33%) presented with positive results. More diverse types of autoantibodies were found in female patients compared with male patients, and antinuclear antibodies, anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibodies were the most common types. There were various types of comorbidities in female patients, but lichen sclerosus et atrophicus and vitiligo were the most common comorbidities in both genders. Conclusion:High incidence and frequent co-occurrence with other subtypes of APP may be the characteristics of Chinese patients with morphea, and it is recommended to classify morphea into plaque, linear, deep and mixed subtypes.