Eriks Smagris, Soumik BasuRay, John Li, Yongcheng Huang, Ka‐man V. Lai, Jesper Gromada, Jonathan C. Cohen, Helen H. Hobbs – 10 June 2014 – A sequence polymorphism (rs738409, I148M) in patatin‐like phospholipid domain containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) is strongly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the mechanistic basis for this association remains enigmatic. Neither ablation nor overexpression of wild‐type PNPLA3 affects liver fat content in mice, whereas hepatic overexpression of the human 148M transgene causes steatosis.

Eriks Smagris, Soumik BasuRay, John Li, Yongcheng Huang, Ka‐man V. Lai, Jesper Gromada, Jonathan C. Cohen, Helen H. Hobbs – 10 June 2014 – A sequence polymorphism (rs738409, I148M) in patatin‐like phospholipid domain containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) is strongly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the mechanistic basis for this association remains enigmatic. Neither ablation nor overexpression of wild‐type PNPLA3 affects liver fat content in mice, whereas hepatic overexpression of the human 148M transgene causes steatosis.

Fen Qiang Li, Gi‐Young Ko, Kyu‐Bo Sung, Dong‐Il Gwon, Heung Kyu Ko, Jong Woo Kim, Eunsil Yu – 10 June 2014 – The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transfemoral liver biopsy with a Quick‐Core biopsy needle in select living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) recipients. Eight LDLT recipients underwent 9 transfemoral liver biopsy sessions. Six patients had undergone modified right lobe (mRL) LDLT, and 2 patients had undergone dual–left lobe LDLT.

Jiacheng Bi, Xiaodong Zheng, Yongyan Chen, Haiming Wei, Rui Sun, Zhigang Tian – 9 June 2014 – Overactivation of innate immunity, particularly natural killer (NK) cells, is harmful to liver regeneration; however, the molecular mechanisms that limit NK cell overactivation during liver regeneration are still elusive. Here we show that a coinhibitory receptor, T cell Ig and ITIM domain (TIGIT), was selectively up‐regulated on NK cells, along with high expression of its ligand, poliovirus receptor (PVR/CD155), on hepatocytes during liver regeneration.

Ian N. Crispe – 9 June 2014

Mark J Kurth, Tsuyoshi Yokoi, M. Eric Gershwin – 9 June 2014

Katharina John, Johannes Hadem, Till Krech, Kristin Wahl, Michael P. Manns, Steven Dooley, Sandor Batkai, Thomas Thum, Klaus Schulze‐Osthoff, Heike Bantel – 9 June 2014 – Acute liver failure (ALF) represents a life‐threatening situation characterized by sudden and massive liver cell death in the absence of preexisting liver disease. Although most patients require liver transplantation to prevent mortality, some recover spontaneously and show complete liver regeneration.

Tai Hato, Lipika Goyal, Tim F. Greten, Dan G. Duda, Andrew X. Zhu – 9 June 2014 – Immune checkpoint blockade has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for various malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Preclinical and clinical studies have shown the potential benefit of modulating the immunogenicity of HCC. In addition, recent advances in tumor immunology have broadened our understanding of the complex mechanism of immune evasion.

Diego F. Cuadros, Adam J. Branscum, F. DeWolfe Miller, Laith J. Abu‐Raddad – 9 June 2014 – Egypt has the highest hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence in the world (14.7%). The drivers of the HCV epidemic in Egypt are not well understood, but the mass parenteral antischistosomal therapy (PAT) campaigns in the second half of the 20th century are believed to be the determinant of the high prevalence. We studied HCV exposure in Egypt at a microscale through spatial mapping and epidemiological description of HCV clustering. The source of data was the 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey.

Tai Hato, Lipika Goyal, Tim F. Greten, Dan G. Duda, Andrew X. Zhu – 9 June 2014 – Immune checkpoint blockade has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for various malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Preclinical and clinical studies have shown the potential benefit of modulating the immunogenicity of HCC. In addition, recent advances in tumor immunology have broadened our understanding of the complex mechanism of immune evasion.