Becker nevus (BN) is a common benign condition occurring most often in young men, much more often than in women. Acne isolated within a BN is a rare phenomenon hypothesized to occur, at least in part, due to increased androgen sensitivity within the nevus. We present a rare case of papular acne with in a BN of a 14 year-old girl.

Nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) is an essential regulator of gene transcription for hundreds of genes, including many critically involved in apoptosis. NFkappaB complexes containing cRel generally activate pro-apoptotic genes, while those with RelA activate anti-apoptotic genes. We have previously shown that NFkappaB binding by RelA is constitutively elevated in human metastatic melanoma cultures relative to normal melanocytes. Here we extended our investigation to immunohistochemical analysis of human tissue biopsies. We found that RelA expression is significantly elevated in melanocytes of human naevi and melanomas relative to normal skin, but expression of its inhibitor IkappaB-alpha is significantly lower in metastatic melanomas than in intradermal naevi. Antibodies specific for the nuclear localization signal of RelA also showed significantly increased staining in metastatic melanoma biopsies. Notably, in melanomas and in naevi, we also found that RelA is phosphorylated at serine 529, and this activated form accumulates in the nuclei of melanomas. This suggests that increased expression and phosphorylation of RelA occurs at the stage of the benign naevus, but IkappaB-alpha is able to sequester RelA in the cytoplasm and regulate RelA transcriptional transactivation. We also found that antibodies against cRel show a progressive increase in staining from naevi to melanoma. However, staining for IkappaB-epsilon, which primarily inhibits the nuclear localization of cRel was also progressively increased, and cRel expression was predominantly cytoplasmic in melanomas. These results confirm that the altered expression of RelA found in metastatic melanoma cells in tissue culture is relevant to human tumors and offer new insights into the deregulation of NFkappaB signaling.

Schimmelpenning syndrome (SS) includes an organoid nevus that follows the lines of Blaschko and defects of brain, eyes, bones, or other systems.

We report a case of a 3-month old female infant, who presented with several thin plaques, with irregular borders, yellowish color, which had a verrucous appearance, following the lines of Blaschko, mainly occupying the left side of posterior trunk, the left face, the right side of the anterior trunk, and the right upper limb. These plaques had been present since birth. In addition, she had a flat salmon to yellow nevus on the left parietal and temporal region of the scalp, with a bald patch. She was diagnosed after birth with an interauricular communication.

The skin biopsy from the lesion of the right arm revealed an epidermal nevus that occupied the epidermis completely. Routine and other complementary laboratory blood tests, including platelet count, thyroid function tests, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D, parathyroid hormone, and plasma and urinary levels of calcium and phosphorus were negative. Cerebral magnetic resonance and renal ultrasound were normal. The diagnosis of SS was established.

She is being followed in the clinics of Dermatology, Cardiology, Pediatrics, and Pediatric Neurology. We report this case to point out the importance of investigating patients with epidermal nevus to identify associated conditions

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions