Kumiko Isse, Andrew Lesniak, Kedar Grama, John Maier, Susan Specht, Marcela Castillo‐Rama, John Lunz, Badrinath Roysam, George Michalopoulos, Anthony J. Demetris – 13 November 2012 – Routine light microscopy identifies two distinct epithelial cell populations in normal human livers: hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells (BECs). Considerable epithelial diversity, however, arises during disease states when a variety of hepatocyte‐BEC hybrid cells appear.

Hai‐Chon Lee, Sung‐Sang J. Sung, Peter D. Krueger, Yoon‐Ah Jo, Hugo R. Rosen, Steven F. Ziegler, Young S. Hahn – 13 November 2012 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Here we report that infection of hepatic cells by HCV stimulates nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB)‐dependent production of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). Hepatocyte‐derived TSLP in turn conditions dendritic cells (DCs) to drive T‐helper (Th)17 differentiation.

Elodie Beaumont, Romuald Patient, Christophe Hourioux, Isabelle Dimier‐Poisson, Philippe Roingeard – 13 November 2012 – The development of a prophylactic vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) has become an important medical priority, because 3‐4 million new HCV infections are thought to occur each year worldwide. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is another major human pathogen, but infections with this virus can be prevented with a safe, efficient vaccine, based on the remarkable ability of the envelope protein (S) of this virus to self‐assemble into highly immunogenic subviral particles.

Brittany V. Martin‐Murphy, Douglas J. Kominsky, David J. Orlicky, Terrence M. Donohue, Cynthia Ju – 13 November 2012 – Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose causes severe, fulminant liver injury. The underlying mechanism of APAP‐induced liver injury (AILI), studied by a murine model, displays similar characteristics of injury as those observed in patients. Previous studies suggest that aside from APAP‐induced direct damage to hepatocytes, the hepatic innate immune system is activated and may contribute to the overall pathogenesis of AILI.

Xijun Wang, Aihua Zhang, Hui Sun – 13 November 2012 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the commonest primary hepatic malignancy and the third most common cause of cancer‐related death worldwide. Incidence remains highest in the developing world and is steadily increasing across the developed world. Current diagnostic modalities, of ultrasound and α‐fetoprotein, are expensive and lack sensitivity in tumor detection. Because of its asymptomatic nature, HCC is usually diagnosed at late and advanced stages, for which there are no effective therapies.

Kota Sato, Shinji Tanaka, Yusuke Mitsunori, Kaoru Mogushi, Mahmut Yasen, Arihiro Aihara, Daisuke Ban, Takanori Ochiai, Takumi Irie, Atsushi Kudo, Noriaki Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanaka, Shigeki Arii – 13 November 2012 – Abnormal tumor vascularity is one of the typical features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, the significance of contrast‐enhanced intraoperative ultrasonography (CEIOUS) images of HCC vasculature was evaluated by clinicopathological and gene expression analyses. We enrolled 82 patients who underwent curative hepatic resection for HCC with CEIOUS.

Chiung‐Kuei Huang, Soo Ok Lee, Kuo‐Pao Lai, Wen‐Lung Ma, Tzu‐Hua Lin, Meng‐Yin Tsai, Jie Luo, Chawnshang Chang – 13 November 2012 – Transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM‐MSCs) has been considered as an alternative therapy, replacing liver transplantation in clinical trials, to treat liver cirrhosis, an irreversible disease that may eventually lead to liver cancer development. However, low survival rate of the BM‐MSCs leading to unsatisfactory efficacy remains a major concern.

Bezawit D. Tekola, Stephen Caldwell – 9 November 2012 – Watch a video presentation of this article

Bezawit D. Tekola, Stephen Caldwell – 9 November 2012 – Watch a video presentation of this article

Enric Reverter, Juan Carlos García‐Pagán – 9 November 2012 – Watch the interview with the author