Silvia Giordano, Amedeo Columbano – 18 October 2012 – MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved small noncoding RNAs involved in the regulation of gene expression and protein translation. Many studies have shown that they play a crucial role in driving organ and tissue differentiation during embryogenesis and in the fine‐tuning of fundamental biological processes, such as proliferation and apoptosis. Growing evidence indicates that their deregulation plays an important role in cancer onset and progression as well, where they act as oncogenes or oncosuppressors.

Pramod K. Mistry – 18 October 2012

Mark S. Sulkowski, Fred Poordad, Michael P. Manns, Jean‐Pierre Bronowicki, K. Rajender Reddy, Stephen A. Harrison, Nezam H. Afdhal, Heather L. Sings, Lisa D. Pedicone, Kenneth J. Koury, Vilma Sniukiene, Margaret H. Burroughs, Janice K. Albrecht, Clifford A. Brass, Ira M. Jacobson, for the SPRINT‐2 Trial Investigators – 18 October 2012 – Boceprevir (BOC) added to peginterferon alfa‐2b (PegIFN) and ribavirin (RBV) significantly increases sustained virologic response (SVR) rates over PegIFN/RBV alone in previously untreated adults with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1.

Loïc Rolas, Nesrine Makhezer, Soumeya Hadjoudj, Jamel El‐Benna, Bahia Djerdjouri, Laure Elkrief, Richard Moreau, Axel Périanin – 18 October 2012 – Cirrhosis is commonly accompanied by impaired defense functions of polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs), increased patient susceptibility to infections, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PMN antimicrobial activity is dependent on a massive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) 2 (NADPH oxidase 2; NOX2), termed respiratory burst (RB).

Maria J. Perugorria, Lindsay B. Murphy, Nicola Fullard, Jayashree B. Chakraborty, Dimitra Vyrla, Caroline L. Wilson, Fiona Oakley, Jelena Mann, Derek A. Mann – 18 October 2012 – Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) function as key regulators of liver fibrosis and are able to modulate the fibrogenic actions of nonparenchymal liver cells. The fibrogenic signaling events downstream of TLRs on Kupffer cells (KCs) and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are poorly defined.

Lei Zhao, Su Yin Lim, Alex N. Gordon‐Weeks, Thomas T. Tapmeier, Jae Hong Im, Yunhong Cao, John Beech, Danny Allen, Sean Smart, Ruth J. Muschel – 18 October 2012 – Liver metastasis from colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality. Myeloid cells play pivotal roles in the metastatic process, but their prometastatic functions in liver metastasis remain incompletely understood. To investigate their role, we simulated liver metastasis in C57BL/6 mice through intrasplenic inoculation of MC38 colon carcinoma cells.

Bibo Ke, Xiu‐Da Shen, Naoko Kamo, Haofeng Ji, Shi Yue, Feng Gao, Ronald W. Busuttil, Jerzy W. Kupiec‐Weglinski – 18 October 2012 – Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical mediators of immune responses that integrate signals from the innate immune system to orchestrate adaptive host immunity. This study was designed to investigate the role and molecular mechanisms of STAT3‐induced β‐catenin in the regulation of DC function and inflammatory responses in vitro and in vivo.

Muhammad N. Zahid, Marine Turek, Fei Xiao, Viet Loan Dao Thi, Maryse Guérin, Isabel Fofana, Philippe Bachellier, John Thompson, Leen Delang, Johan Neyts, Dorothea Bankwitz, Thomas Pietschmann, Marlène Dreux, François‐Loïc Cosset, Fritz Grunert, Thomas F. Baumert, Mirjam B. Zeisel – 18 October 2012 – Scavenger receptor class B type I (SR‐BI) is a high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) receptor highly expressed in the liver and modulating HDL metabolism.

Ya‐Hui Chen, Mei‐Hwei Chang, Chin‐Sung Chien, Shang‐Hsin Wu, Chun‐Hsien Yu, Hui‐Ling Chen – 18 October 2012 – The potential lineage relationship between hepatic oval cells, small hepatocyte‐like progenitor cells (SHPCs), and hepatocytes in liver regeneration is debated. To test whether mature hepatocytes can give rise to SHPCs, rats with dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) chimeric livers, which harbored endogenous DPPIV‐deficient hepatocytes and transplanted DPPIV‐positive hepatocytes, were subjected to retrorsine treatment followed by partial hepatectomy (PH).

Qiong‐Zhu Dong, Xiao‐Fei Zhang, Yue Zhao, Hu‐Liang Jia, Hai‐Jun Zhou, Chun Dai, Hai‐Jing Sun, Yi Qin, Wei‐De Zhang, Ning Ren, Qing‐Hai Ye, Lun‐Xiu Qin – 18 October 2012 – Osteopontin (OPN) plays a crucial role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis. However, little is known about the impact of OPN polymorphisms on cancer progression. In this study, we first identified the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the OPN promoter region by direct sequencing in 30 HCCs, and then evaluated the prognostic values of the selected ones in two large cohorts of 826 HCC patients.