Theodorus B.M. Hakvoort, Youji He, Wim Kulik, Jacqueline L.M. Vermeulen, Suzanne Duijst, Jan M. Ruijter, Jurgen H. Runge, Nicolaas E.P. Deutz, S. Eleonore Koehler, Wouter H. Lamers – 19 September 2016 – Glutamine synthetase (GS) catalyzes condensation of ammonia with glutamate to glutamine. Glutamine serves, with alanine, as a major nontoxic interorgan ammonia carrier. Elimination of hepatic GS expression in mice causes only mild hyperammonemia and hypoglutaminemia but a pronounced decrease in the whole‐body muscle‐to‐fat ratio with increased myostatin expression in muscle.

Arielle Klepper, Francis J. Eng, Erin H. Doyle, Ahmed El‐Shamy, Adeeb H. Rahman, M. Isabel Fiel, Gonzalo Carrasco Avino, Moonju Lee, Fei Ye, Sasan Roayaie, Meena B. Bansal, Margaret R. MacDonald, Thomas D. Schiano, Andrea D. Branch – 19 September 2016 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is unique among RNA viruses in its ability to establish chronic infection in the majority of exposed adults. HCV persists in the liver despite interferon (IFN)‐stimulated gene (ISG) induction; robust induction actually predicts treatment failure and viral persistence.

Misako Sato‐Matsubara, Norifumi Kawada – 19 September 2016

Amalia Gastaldelli, Melania Gaggini, Giuseppe Daniele, Demetrio Ciociaro, Eugenio Cersosimo, Devjit Tripathy, Curtis Triplitt, Peter Fox, Nicolas Musi, Ralph DeFronzo, Patricia Iozzo – 17 September 2016 – Glucagon‐like peptide 1 (GLP‐1) receptor agonists (GLP‐1‐RAs) act on multiple tissues, in addition to the pancreas. Recent studies suggest that GLP‐1‐RAs act on liver and adipose tissue to reduce insulin resistance (IR). Thus, we evaluated the acute effects of exenatide (EX) on hepatic (Hep‐IR) and adipose (Adipo‐IR) insulin resistance and glucose uptake.

Akiko Eguchi, Raul G. Lazaro, Jiaohong Wang, Jihoon Kim, Davide Povero, Brandon Willliams, Samuel B. Ho, Peter Stärkel, Bernd Schnabl, Lucila Ohno‐Machado, Hidekazu Tsukamoto, Ariel E. Feldstein – 17 September 2016 – Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released during cell stress, or demise, can contain a barcode of the cell origin, including specific microRNAs (miRNAs). Here, we tested the hypothesis that during early alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) development, hepatocytes (HCs) release EVs with an miRNA signature that can be measured in circulation.

Stella Chai, Kai‐Yu Ng, Man Tong, Eunice Y. Lau, Terence K. Lee, Kwok Wah Chan, Yun‐Fei Yuan, Tan‐To Cheung, Siu‐Tim Cheung, Xiao‐Qi Wang, Nathalie Wong, Chung‐Mau Lo, Kwan Man, Xin‐Yuan Guan, Stephanie Ma – 17 September 2016 – Wnt/β‐catenin signaling is activated in CD133 liver cancer stem cells (CSCs), a subset of cells known to be a root of tumor recurrence and therapy resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the regulatory mechanism of this pathway in CSCs remains unclear.

Ming Xiang, Tingting Liu, Wanyue Tan, Hongyu Ren, Hua Li, Junjun Liu, Hui Cao, Qi Cheng, Xiulan Liu, Hucheng Zhu, Yali Tuo, Jianping Wang, Yonghui Zhang – 17 September 2016 – The central purpose of this study was to investigate therapeutic effects of the botanical derivative, kinsenoside (KD), in experimental autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).

Juan G. Abraldes, Christophe Bureau, Horia Stefanescu, Salvador Augustin, Michael Ney, Hélène Blasco, Bogdan Procopet, Jaime Bosch, Joan Genesca, Annalisa Berzigotti, for the Anticipate Investigators – 17 September 2016 – In patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD), the presence of clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) and varices needing treatment (VNT) bears prognostic and therapeutic implications. Our aim was to develop noninvasive tests‐based risk prediction models to provide a point‐of‐care risk assessment of cACLD patients.

Kelly McDaniel, Fanyin Meng, Nan Wu, Keisaku Sato, Julie Venter, Francesca Bernuzzi, Pietro Invernizzi, Tianhao Zhou, Konstantina Kyritsi, Ying Wan, Qiaobing Huang, Paolo Onori, Heather Francis, Eugenio Gaudio, Shannon Glaser, Gianfranco Alpini – 17 September 2016 – Biliary‐committed progenitor cells (small mouse cholangiocytes; SMCCs) from small bile ducts are more resistant to hepatobiliary injury than large mouse cholangiocytes (LGCCs) from large bile ducts.

Marcello Bianchini, Lesley De Pietri, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Erica Villa – 17 September 2016