Journal of Dermatological Science The Official Journal of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology AIMS AND SCOPE The Journal of Dermatological Science publishes high quality peer-reviewed manuscripts covering the entire scope of dermatology, from molecular studies to clinical investigations. Laboratory and clinical studies which provide new information will be reviewed expeditiously and published in a timely manner. The Editor and his Editorial Board especially encourage the publication of research based on a process of bilateral feedback between the clinic and the laboratory, in which incompletely understood clinical phenomena are examined in the laboratory and the knowledge thus acquired is directly reapplied in the clinic. This continuous feedback will refine and expand our domains. Although the Journal is the official organ of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology, it serves as an international forum for the work of all dermatological scientists. With an internationally renowned Editorial Board, the Journal maintains high scientific standards in the evaluation and publication of manuscripts. The Journal also publishes invited reviews, commentaries, meeting announcements and book reviews. Short communications reporting new results are also encouraged, as are papers with negative scientific data, if they contribute to advances in dermatology. The Journal also welcomes highly speculative articles with or even without supporting data, assuming the speculation is reasonable; such papers should be less than 2 printed pages and submitted as Letters to the Editor.