Elvire Beleoken, Rodolphe Sobesky, Jean‐Pierre Le Caer, François Le Naour, Mylène Sebagh, Nicolas Moniaux, Bruno Roche, Mohammad Zahid Mustafa, Catherine Guettier, Catherine Johanet, Didier Samuel, Jean‐Henri Bouhris, Jean‐Charles Duclos‐Vallee, Eric Ballot – 22 August 2012 – The development of potentially severe non‐graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) hepatitis resembling autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) has been reported after bone marrow transplantation (BMT).

Manav Wadhawan, Subash Gupta, Neerav Goyal, Karisangal R. Vasudevan, Kausar Makki, Reetika Dawar, Raman Sardana, Nand Lal, Ajay Kumar – 18 August 2012 – It is believed that antiviral prophylaxis decreases the incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation and disease. There are few data regarding weekly assays for CMV DNA after transplantation and the subsequent management of CMV. Here we report a cohort of living related liver transplantation (LRLT) patients who were treated for invasive CMV disease or for CMV infections if they were receiving steroids for rejection.

John Paul Roberts – 18 August 2012 – Key Points

Akemi Takata, Motoyuki Otsuka, Takeshi Yoshikawa, Takahiro Kishikawa, Yohko Hikiba, Shuntaro Obi, Tadashi Goto, Young Jun Kang, Shin Maeda, Haruhiko Yoshida, Masao Omata, Hiroshi Asahara, Kazuhiko Koike – 17 August 2012 – MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs that regulate the expression of specific target genes. While deregulated miRNA expression levels have been detected in many tumors, whether miRNA functional impairment is also involved in carcinogenesis remains unknown.

Lieke M. van der Velden, Misha V. Golynskiy, Ingrid T. G. W. Bijsmans, Saskia W. C. van Mil, Leo W. J. Klomp, Maarten Merkx, Stan F.J. van de Graaf – 17 August 2012 – Bile acids are pivotal for the absorption of dietary lipids and vitamins and function as important signaling molecules in metabolism. Here, we describe a genetically encoded fluorescent bile acid sensor (BAS) that allows for spatiotemporal monitoring of bile acid transport in single living cells.

Massimiliano Paganelli, Kai Dallmeier, Omar Nyabi, Isabelle Scheers, Benoît Kabamba, Johan Neyts, Patrick Goubau, Mustapha Najimi, Etienne M. Sokal – 17 August 2012 – The role of cell differentiation state on hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication has been well demonstrated, whereas how it determines cell susceptibility to HBV entry is far less understood. We previously showed that umbilical cord matrix stem cells (UCMSC) can be differentiated towards hepatocyte‐like cells in vitro.

Yuanyuan Guo, Wendie Wang, Jing Wang, Jiannan Feng, Qingyang Wang, Jianfeng Jin, Ming Lv, Xinying Li, Yan Li, Yuanfang Ma, Beifen Shen, Jiyan Zhang – 17 August 2012 – c‐Jun N‐terminal protein kinase (JNK) is a member of the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) superfamily. The activation of JNK is mediated by sequential protein phosphorylation through a MAPK module, namely, MAPK kinase kinase (MAP3K or MEKK) → MAPK kinase (MAP2K or MKK) → MAPK.

Kun Wu, Jin Ding, Cheng Chen, Wen Sun, Bei‐Fang Ning, Wen Wen, Lei Huang, Tao Han, Wen Yang, Chao Wang, Zhong Li, Meng‐Chao Wu, Gen‐Sheng Feng, Wei‐Fen Xie, Hong‐Yang Wang – 16 August 2012 – Liver cirrhosis is a predominant risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the mechanism underlying the progression from cirrhosis to HCC remains unclear. Herein we report the concurrent increase of liver progenitor cells (LPCs) and transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) in diethylnitrosamine (DEN)‐induced rat hepatocarcinogenesis and cirrhotic livers of HCC patients.

Ralf Bahde, Sorabh Kapoor, Sriram Bandi, Kuldeep K. Bhargava, Christopher J. Palestro, Sanjeev Gupta – 16 August 2012 – To optimize strategies for liver‐directed cell therapy, prevention of initial transplanted cell losses is particularly important for subsequent liver repopulation. After cell transplantation in hepatic sinusoids, perturbations in hepatic microcirculation along with changes in various liver cell types are among the earliest changes.

Terence N. Bukong, Wei Hou, Karen Kodys, Gyongyi Szabo – 16 August 2012 – Alcohol use and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection synergize to cause liver damage, and microRNA‐122 (miR‐122) appears to play a key role in this process. Argonaute 2 (Ago2), a key component of the RNA‐induced silencing complex (RISC), has been shown to be important in modulating miR‐122 function during HCV infection. However, GW182, a critical component of processing bodies (GW bodies) that is recruited by Ago2 to target messenger RNA (mRNA), has not been assessed in HCV infection.