Masashi Suzuki

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multi‐system autoimmune disease. Anti‐neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are autoantibodies directed against enzymes found within primary granules of neutrophils and lysosomes in monocytes. Although up to 12% of SSc patients have ANCA, only a minority of these patients develop an overlap syndrome with ANCA‐associated vasculitis. We summarize previous reports on SSc patients with ANCA‐associated neuropathy. In all the reported cases, the SSc diagnosis preceded the ANCA‐associated neuropathy diagnosis. Seven of the eight patients with limited cutaneous SSc had interstitial lung disease (ILD). Thus, patients with ANCA‐associated neuropathy in lSSc may be prone to complication with ILD.

Prognostic significance of GRP78/BiP expression in patients with Stage III/IV hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are essential for maintaining self-renewal in human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. Recombinant basic FGF (bFGF or FGF2) is conventionally used to culture pluripotent stem cells; however, because of the instability of bFGF, repeated addition of fresh bFGF into the culture medium is required in order to maintain its concentration. In this study, we demonstrate that a heat-stable chimeric variant of FGF, termed FGFC, can be successfully used for maintaining human pluripotent stem cells. FGFC is a chimeric protein composed of human FGF1 and FGF2 domains that exhibits higher thermal stability and protease resistance than do both FGF1 and FGF2. Both human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells were maintained in ordinary culture medium containing FGFC instead of FGF2. Comparison of cells grown in FGFC with those grown in conventional FGF2 media showed no significant differences in terms of the expression of pluripotency markers, global gene expression, karyotype, or differentiation potential in the three germ lineages. We therefore propose that FGFC may be an effective alternative to FGF2, for maintenance of human pluripotent stem cells.