Hifzur R. Siddique, Douglas E. Feldman, Chia‐Lin Chen, Vasu Punj, Hiroshi Tokumitsu, Keigo Machida – 14 July 2015 – Stem cell populations are maintained through self‐renewing divisions in which one daughter cell commits to a particular fate whereas the other retains the multipotent characteristics of its parent. The NUMB, a tumor suppressor, in conjunction with another tumor‐suppressor protein, p53, preserves this property and acts as a barrier against deregulated expansion of tumor‐associated stem cells.

Ibrahim M. Sayed, Ann‐Sofie Vercouter, Sayed F. Abdelwahab, Koen Vercauteren, Philip Meuleman – 14 July 2015 – Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is yearly responsible for approximately 20 million infections worldwide. Although most infections occur in developing countries, HEV appears to be an emerging problem in several industrialized countries, where it is mostly associated with either traveling to an HEV endemic area or contact with pigs, which represent a major reservoir of HEV.

Kathie Béland, Gabriel Marceau, Agathe Labardy, Sara Bourbonnais, Fernando Alvarez – 14 July 2015 – Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is known as a T cell–mediated disease. However, AIH patients refractory to conventional treatment have been successfully treated with anti‐CD20‐mediated B‐cell depletion. The aim of this project was to understand the immunological changes underlying the AIH remission caused by B‐cell depletion in an experimental model of AIH.

Kai Markus Schneider, Veerle Bieghs, Felix Heymann, Wei Hu, Daniela Dreymueller, Lijun Liao, Mick Frissen, Andreas Ludwig, Nikolaus Gassler, Oliver Pabst, Eicke Latz, Gernot Sellge, John Penders, Frank Tacke, Christian Trautwein – 14 July 2015 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is seen as the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome and represents the most common liver disease in Western societies. The G protein–coupled chemokine receptor CX3CR1 plays a central role in several metabolic syndrome–related disease manifestations and is involved in maintaining intestinal homeostasis.

Zachary H. Henry, Patrick G. Northup – 14 July 2015

Cheolhee Won, Byung‐Hak Kim, Eun Hee Yi, Kyung‐Ju Choi, Eun‐Kyung Kim, Jong‐Min Jeong, Jae‐Ho Lee, Ja‐June Jang, Jung‐Hwan Yoon, Won‐Il Jeong, In‐Chul Park, Tae Woo Kim, Sun Sik Bae, Valentina M. Factor, Stephanie Ma, Snorri S. Thorgeirsson, Yun‐Han Lee, Sang‐Kyu Ye – 6 July 2015 – Enhanced expression of the cancer stem cell (CSC) marker, CD133, is closely associated with a higher rate of tumor formation and poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

Catherine de Martel, Delphine Maucort‐Boulch, Martyn Plummer, Silvia Franceschi – 3 July 2015 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are major causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In order to assess the relative contribution of HBV and HCV to HCC worldwide, and identify changes over time, we conducted a systematic review of case series published up to the year 2014. Eligible studies had to report seroprevalence of both hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to HCV (anti‐HCV), alone and in combination, for at least 20 adult HCC cases.

Stuart J. Forbes – 3 July 2015

Aaron F. Carlin, Paula Aristizabal, Qinghua Song, Huan Wang, Matthew S. Paulson, Luisa M. Stamm, Robert T. Schooley, David L. Wyles – 3 July 2015 – The analysis of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines produced during hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has advanced our understanding of viral‐host interactions and identified predictors of treatment response. Administration of interferons (IFNs) made it difficult to interpret biomarkers of immune activation during treatment. Direct‐acting antiviral (DAA) regimens without IFN are now being used to treat HCV with excellent efficacy.

Hiromitsu Kumada, Kazuaki Chayama, Lino Rodrigues, Fumitaka Suzuki, Kenji Ikeda, Hidenori Toyoda, Ken Sato, Yoshiyasu Karino, Yasushi Matsuzaki, Kiyohide Kioka, Carolyn Setze, Tami Pilot‐Matias, Meenal Patwardhan, Regis A. Vilchez, Margaret Burroughs, Rebecca Redman – 3 July 2015 – GIFT‐I is a phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of a 12‐week regimen of coformulated ombitasvir (OBV)/paritaprevir (PTV)/ritonavir (r) for treatment of Japanese hepatitis C virus genotype 1b–infected patients.