Wei‐Dong Chen, Donna Yu, Barry M. Forman, Wendong Huang, Yan‐Dong Wang – 22 August 2012 – Gpbar1 (TGR5), a membrane‐bound bile acid receptor, is well known for its roles in regulation of energy homeostasis and glucose metabolism. TGR5 activation also inhibits nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB)‐mediated inflammation. Here we show that TGR5 deficiency enhances chemically induced liver carcinogenesis, and that TGR5 is a negative regulator of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling.

Alexander Pedroza‐Gonzalez, Cornelis Verhoef, Jan N. M. Ijzermans, Maikel P. Peppelenbosch, Jaap Kwekkeboom, Joanne Verheij, Harry L. A. Janssen, Dave Sprengers – 22 August 2012 – The mechanisms that enable liver cancer to escape elimination by the immune system remain unclear, but their elucidation may provide novel therapeutic interventions.

Joo‐Won Park, Woo‐Jae Park, Yael Kuperman, Sigalit Boura‐Halfon, Yael Pewzner‐Jung, Anthony H. Futerman – 22 August 2012 – Sphingolipids are important structural components of cell membranes and act as critical regulators of cell function by modulating intracellular signaling pathways.

Nikolaus Jilg, Raymond T. Chung – 22 August 2012

Philip Lee, Waifook Leong, Trish Tan, Miangkee Lim, Weiping Han, George K. Radda – 22 August 2012 – The pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes is characterized by impaired insulin action and increased hepatic glucose production (HGP). Despite the importance of hepatic metabolic aberrations in diabetes development, there is currently no molecular probe that allows measurement of hepatic gluconeogenic pathways in vivo and in a noninvasive manner.

Evaggelia Liaskou, Henning W. Zimmermann, Ka‐Kit Li, Ye H. Oo, Shankar Suresh, Zania Stamataki, Omar Qureshi, Patricia F. Lalor, Jean Shaw, Wing‐kin Syn, Stuart M. Curbishley, David H. Adams – 22 August 2012 – Liver fibrosis is a wound healing response to chronic liver injury and inflammation in which macrophages and infiltrating monocytes participate in both the development and resolution phase. In humans, three monocyte subsets have been identified: the classical CD14++CD16−, intermediate CD14++CD16+, and nonclassical CD14+CD16++ monocytes.

Michele De Palma, George Coukos, David Semela – 22 August 2012

Pascal Lapierre, Kathie Béland, Roland Yang, Fernando Alvarez – 22 August 2012 – Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is characterized by a loss of immunological tolerance to hepatocytes. Patients respond well to immunosuppression but progression to endstage liver disease occurs in 10%‐20% of cases, leading to liver transplantation. Using a murine model of type 2 AIH, we identified susceptibility factors for autoimmune hepatitis and attempted to restore immunological tolerance to liver autoantigens.

Patrizia Loi, Qing Yuan, David Torres, Sandrine Delbauve, Marie‐Aline Laute, Marie‐Claude Lalmand, Michel Pétein, Stanislas Goriely, Michel Goldman, Véronique Flamand – 22 August 2012 – Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) is an important transcription factor in Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling, a pathway that is known to play a critical role in liver ischemia‐reperfusion injury. In order to decipher the involvement of IRF3 in this setting, we first compared the intensity of hepatic lesions in IRF3‐deficient versus wildtype mice.

Fahad M. Khan, Arathi Rajendra Komarla, Paulo G. Mendoza, Henry C. Bodenheimer, Neil D. Theise – 22 August 2012 – Liver biopsy is important for diagnosing primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Prior investigations suggest that immunostaining for biliary keratin 19 (K19) may show the earliest changes suspicious for PBC, namely, loss of the canals of Hering (CoH).