Melanocytes, a neural crest cell derivative, produce pigment to protect keratinocytes from ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Although melanocytic lesions such as nevi and cutaneous malignant melanomas are known to be associated with sun exposure, the role of UVR in oncogenesis is complex and has yet to be clearly elucidated. UVR appears to have a direct mutational role in inducing or promoting melanoma formation as well as an indirect role through microenvironmental changes. Recent advances in the modeling of human melanoma in animals have built platforms upon which prospective studies can begin to investigate these questions. This review will focus exclusively on genetically engineered mouse models of UVR-induced melanoma. The role that UVR has in mouse models depends on multiple factors, including the waveband, timing, and dose of UVR, as well as the nature of the oncogenic agent(s) driving melanomagenesis in the model. Work in the field has examined the role of neonatal and adult UVR, interactions between UVR and common melanoma oncogenes, the role of sunscreen in preventing melanoma, and the effect of UVR on immune function within the skin. Here we describe relevant mouse models and discuss how these models can best be translated to the study of human skin and cutaneous melanoma.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients. Disruption of or weak reconstitution of virus-specific cellular immune function, such as with certain HCT approaches, poses significant risk for CMV-related complications. The incidence of and risk factors for CMV infection and the nature of CMV disease were evaluated retrospectively among 356 consecutive HCT recipients transplanted at the National Institutes of Health using all graft sources, including bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC), and umbilical cord blood (UCB), and a range of in vivo and ex vivo approaches for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. The cumulative incidence of CMV infection was higher for CMV-seropositive recipients at 33%, regardless of donor CMV serostatus. Patients transplanted with CMV-seropositive donors had a significantly shorter duration of antiviral therapy. Among graft sources UCB was associated with the highest cumulative incidence of CMV infection at 65% and significantly longer treatment duration at a median of 36 days, whereas PBSC HCT was associated with the lowest incidence at 26% and the shortest CMV treatment duration at a median of 21 days. There were significant differences in the cumulative incidence of CMV infection by T cell manipulation strategy when systemic steroids were included as a risk-modifying event. Over one-third of CMV infections occurred in the setting of systemic steroid administration. CMV disease occurred in 5% of HCT recipients, with 70% of cases in the setting of treatment for GVHD. Although factors related to serostatus, graft source, and GVHD prophylaxis were associated with varied CMV infection incidence, unplanned post-HCT corticosteroid therapy contributed greatly to the incidence of both CMV infection and disease across HCT approaches, highlighting this post-HCT intervention as a key time to potentially tailor the approach to monitoring, preemptive therapy, and even prophylaxis.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate authorship trends among publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed specialty journals published within the last decade and to assess how publication practices differ among medical specialties. Methods: The National Institutes of Health’s Portfolio Analysis platform, iCite, was queried for PubMed-indexed case reports, review articles, and original research articles published between 2005 and 2017 in 69 high-impact, clinical journals encompassing 23 medical specialties. Overall, 121,397 peer-reviewed publications were evaluated—of which, 45.1% were original research, 28.7% were review articles, and 26.3% were case reports. Multivariable regression was used to evaluate the magnitude of association of publication year on the number of authors per article by specialty and article type. Results: Original research articles have the greatest increase in authorship (0.23 more authors per article per year), as compared with review articles (0.18 authors per article per year) and case reports (0.01 authors per article per year). Twenty-two of the 23 specialties evaluated had increase in authorship in high-impact specialty journals. Specialty growth rates ranged from 0.42 authors/year (Neurology), Psychiatry (0.35 authors/year), General Surgery (0.29 authors/year), Urology (0.27 authors/year), and Pathology (0.27 authors/year). Specialties with a greater percentage of graduates entering academics had more authors per article; surgical specialties and length of residency were not found to be predictive factors. Conclusion: There has been substantial growth in the authorship bylines of contemporary medical literature, much of which cannot be explained by increased complexity or collaboration alone.