Xin‐Long Yan, Ya‐Li Jia, Lin Chen, Quan Zeng, Jun‐Nian Zhou, Chun‐Jiang Fu, Hai‐Xu Chen, Hong‐Feng Yuan, Zhi‐Wei Li, Lei Shi, Ying‐Chen Xu, Jing‐Xue Wang, Xiao‐Mei Zhang, Li‐Juan He, Chao Zhai, Wen Yue, Xue‐Tao Pei – 12 January 2013 – Cancer‐associated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play a pivotal role in modulating tumor progression. However, the interactions between liver cancer‐associated MSCs (LC‐MSCs) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unreported. Here, we identified the presence of MSCs in HCC tissues.

Kerrilynn Carney, Sameer Dhalla, Ayse Aytaman, Craig T. Tenner, Fritz Francois – 12 January 2013 – Although injection drug use (IDU) and blood transfusions prior to 1992 are well‐accepted risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, many studies that evaluated tattooing as a risk factor for HCV infection did not control for a history of IDU or transfusion prior to 1992.

Petia Jeliazkova, Simone Jörs, Marcel Lee, Ursula Zimber‐Strobl, Jorge Ferrer, Roland M. Schmid, Jens T. Siveke, Fabian Geisler – 12 January 2013 – Notch signaling through the Notch2 receptor is essential for normal biliary tubulogenesis during liver development. However, the signaling events downstream of Notch2 critical for this process are less well defined. Furthermore, whether Notch signaling also underlies adult hepatic cell fate decisions is largely unknown.

Xiang‐Dan Cui, Mi‐Jin Lee, Jong‐Hyun Kim, Pei‐Pei Hao, Lan Liu, Goung‐Ran Yu, Dae‐Ghon Kim – 11 January 2013 – Eph receptor 2 (EphA2) overexpression is frequently accompanied by the loss of its cognate ligand during tumor progression. However, the molecular mechanism of this ligand‐independent promotion of tumor by EphA2 remains unclear in highly malignant and fatal cholangiocarcinoma (CC). We examined the biological role of EphA2 in tumor growth and metastasis in CC tissues and cells according to the degree of differentiation and we explored the downstream signaling pathways of EphA2.

Ruben Terg – 8 January 2013

Karima Begriche, Julie Massart, Marie‐Anne Robin, Fabrice Bonnet, Bernard Fromenty – 8 January 2013 – The worldwide epidemic of obesity and insulin resistance favors nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance (IR) in the adipose tissue increases lipolysis and the entry of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) in the liver, whereas IR‐associated hyperinsulinemia promotes hepatic de novo lipogenesis. However, several hormonal and metabolic adaptations are set up in order to restrain hepatic fat accumulation, such as increased mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (mtFAO).

Lavrentios Papalavrentios, Emmanouil Sinakos, Danai Chourmouzi, Prodromos Hytiroglou, Konstantinos Drevelegas, Antonios Drevelegas, Evangelos Akriviadis – 8 January 2013

Yingjian Liang, Tongsen Zheng, Ruipeng Song, Jiabei Wang, Dalong Yin, Luoluo Wang, Haitao Liu, Lantian Tian, Xiang Fang, Xianzhi Meng, Hongchi Jiang, Jiaren Liu, Lianxin Liu – 8 January 2013 – The increasing incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is of great concern not only in the United States but throughout the world. Although sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor with antiangiogenic and antiproliferative effects, currently sets the new standard for advanced HCC, tumor response rates are usually quite low.

Calogero Cammà, Giuseppe Cabibbo, Salvatore Petta, Marco Enea, Massimo Iavarone, Antonio Grieco, Antonio Gasbarrini, Erica Villa, Claudio Zavaglia, Raffaele Bruno, Massimo Colombo, Antonio Craxì, on behalf of the WEF and the SOFIA study groups – 8 January 2013 – The purpose was to assess the cost‐effectiveness of sorafenib in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients incorporating current prices and the results of the recent published field practice SOraFenib Italian Assessment (SOFIA) study.

Elena Bellafante, Stefania Murzilli, Lorena Salvatore, Dominga Latorre, Gaetano Villani, Antonio Moschetta – 8 January 2013 – Development of hepatic steatosis and its progression to steatohepatitis may be the consequence of dysfunction of several metabolic pathways, such as triglyceride synthesis, very low‐density lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion, and fatty acid β‐oxidation. Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ coactivator‐1β (PGC‐1β) is a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism, lipogenesis, and triglyceride (TG) secretion.