Stefania Jablonska

OBJECTIVE: Aberrant transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) signaling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of scleroderma (systemic sclerosis [SSc]), but the contribution of specific components in this pathway to SSc fibroblast phenotype remains unclear. This study was undertaken to delineate the role of TGFbeta receptor type I (TGFbetaRI) and TGFbetaRII in collagen overexpression by SSc fibroblasts.

METHODS: Primary dermal fibroblasts from SSc patients and healthy adults were ...

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) found in lesions of 11 patients suffering from epidermodysplasia verruciformis were compared to HPV type 1 (HPV-1) and HPV type 2 (HPV-2) previously characterized in plantar and common warts, respectively. Complementary RNAs (cRNAs) to HPV-1, HPV-2, and viruses obtained from two patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis (J.D. HPV and J.K. HPV) were used in cRNA.DNA filter hybridization experiments. No sequence homology was detected between HPV-1 or HPV-2 ...

We studied 58 cases of linear scleroderma of the face: 20 of them showed transition into progressive facial hemiatrophy (PFH). In several cases a distinction between these two conditions was not possible since the atrophic changes were arranged along the previous indurations, usually along the branches of trigeminal nerve. Neurological manifestations, most often epilepsy, were found in about 10% cases of PFH, and were similar in childhood cases of scleroderma en coup de sabre. The ...

OBJECTIVE: Activation of Smad1 signaling has recently been implicated in the development of fibrosis. The goal of the present study was to gain further insights into activation of the Smad1 pathway in fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to determine whether this pathway is targeted by the antifibrotic drug imatinib mesylate.

METHODS: Levels of phosphorylated Smad1 and total Smad1 were examined in SSc and control skin biopsy samples by immunohistochemistry and in cultured fibroblasts ...

BACKGROUND: The nosologic position of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) is controversial. More than four American Rheumatism Association (ARA) criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are found in a proportion of patients diagnosed as having SCLE; thus such cases could be classified as SLE.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine whether ARA criteria for SLE are helpful in differentiating SCLE from SLE and whether cutaneous and visceral changes, immunologic findings, ...

We describe a case with clinical and histologic features of pemphigus herpetiformis associated with IgG and IgA anti-keratinocyte cell surface antibodies to desmoglein 1 (Dsg1) and exclusively IgG antibodies to desmocollin 3 (Dsc3). The clinical presentation was somewhat similar to IgA pemphigus; the main difference was the prevailing association with IgG antibodies to Dsg1. The presence of IgA anti-Dsg1 antibodies was confirmed by IgA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and IgG anti-Dsc3 ...

Retinoids combined with interferon alpha-2a (IFN alpha) or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] have shown marked synergistic inhibitory effects on angiogenesis induced by tumor cell lines harboring DNA of oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPV) type 16 or 18. This report demonstrates comparable effects of these compounds on angiogenesis induced by non-HPV-bearing transformed cell lines, including breast carcinoma (T47D) and vulval carcinoma (A431) cell lines. Systemic treatment of mice ...

Recent polymerase chain reaction data have shown that most human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes associated with epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) are widespread; however, HPV5 associated with EV skin carcinomas has only rarely been detected in non-EV patients. To identify the reservoir of this virus, we examined 335 sera from different groups of patients for the presence of HPV5 antibodies by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test based on HPV5 virus-like particles. The prevalence ...

A group of 140 cases of various forms of lupus erythematosus (LE) were examined for 24 variables, including the 11 criteria of the American Rheumatism Association (ARA) for the classification of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and 13 additional criteria suggested by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology (EADV) for studies of cutaneous LE with or without systemic involvement. The EADV study factors included skin histopathology and immunopathology, complement and IgG ...

Various retinoids and interferons exert anti-tumor effects both in experimental studies and in clinical trials. Recent reports indicate that they have a synergistic antineoplastic activity. Our study aimed to determine whether these synergistic anti-tumor effects are related to inhibition of tumor-cell-induced angiogenesis. A further aim was to compare the anti-angiogenic activity of various retinoids including 9-cis retinoic acid, a ligand for nuclear retinoic acid receptor RXR, given ...

DNA of human papillomaviruses has frequently been detected in nonmelanoma skin cancers, raising the question of a possible causal contribution of these tumor viruses to skin carcinogenesis. Basal cell carcinomas are the most common nonmelanoma skin cancers; however, so far they are only poorly analyzed with regard to human papillomavirus infection. We searched for human papillomavirus-DNA in 69 biopsies from 61 immunocompetent basal cell carcinoma patients from two geographic locations ...

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is characterized by an abnormal genetic predisposition to infection with specific types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Specific defects of the cell-mediated immunity and/or of the control of HPV infection in keratinocytes are assumed to be involved in the development of the disease. As a model to test this hypothesis, we have studied the prevalence of EV-specific HPV in skin warts of 56 immunosuppressed patients. All main types of cutaneous HPV (HPV1, ...

The DNAs of four human papillomaviruses (HPVs) that were found in the benign lesions of three patients suffering from epidermodysplasia verruciformis have been characterized. The flat wart-like lesions and the macular lesions of patient 1 contained two viruses, HPV-3a and HPV-8, respectively, whose genomes had previously been only partially characterized. The flat wart-like lesions of patient 2 and the macular lesions of patient 3 each contained a virus previously considered as belonging ...