Cell surface-associated proteins in the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.

The cell surface senses environmental changes first and transfers signals into the cell. To understand the response to environmental changes, it is necessary to analyze cell surface components, particularly cell surface-associated proteins. We therefore investigated cell surface-associated proteins from the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. The cell surface-associated proteins extracted by an acidic buffer were resolved by SDS-PAGE. Eighteen proteins were identified from resolved bands by amino-terminal sequencing. Analysis of cell surface-associated proteins indicated that several proteins among them were involved in nucleic acid binding, protein synthesis, proteolytic activity and electron transfer, and other proteins were involved in the stress response.

Extensive pancreatic necrosis in microscopic polyangiitis.

We encountered an 84-year-old woman with microscopic polyangiitis who was found to have pancreatitis on autopsy. The patient was admitted to Yamanashi University Hospital because of fever and progressive renal failure. She was diagnosed with anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO)-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-related microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and was treated successfully with prednisolone pulse therapy. Two months later, she was found unconscious at home and was transferred to hospital, where she died of cardiac arrest after 6 days. Autopsy revealed systemic vasculitis with fibrinoid necrosis (with the most severe form found in the pancreas), interstitial pneumonia, and crescentic glomerulonephritis. A review of the literature revealed that pancreatic involvement in vasculitis, although rare, is one of the complications of MPA; however, the present study is the first report to focus on the pancreatic involvement of MPA. We recommend that nephrologists consider the possibility of pancreatic involvement in this disease.