Haofeng Ji, Yu Zhang, Xiu‐da Shen, Feng Gao, Cynthia Y. Huang, Catalina Abad, Ronald W. Busuttil, James A. Waschek, Jerzy W. Kupiec‐Weglinski – 24 April 2012 – Hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury (IRI), an exogenous antigen‐independent local inflammation response, occurs in multiple clinical settings, including liver transplantation, hepatic resection, trauma, and shock. The immune system and the nervous system maintain extensive communication and mount a variety of integrated responses to danger signals through intricate chemical messengers.

Silvia Hafliger – 24 April 2012

Marta Bodro, Núria Sabé, Laura Lladó, Carme Baliellas, Jordi Niubó, Jose Castellote, Joan Fabregat, Antoni Rafecas, Jordi Carratalà – 24 April 2012 – Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is an opportunistic infection frequently found after solid organ transplantation, and it contributes significantly to mortality and morbidity. CMV‐seronegative recipients of grafts from CMV‐seropositive donors have the highest risk of CMV disease. The most appropriate strategy for preventing CMV disease in this population is a matter of active debate.

Biao Nie, Hyo Min Park, Melissa Kazantzis, Min Lin, Amy Henkin, Stephanie Ng, Sujin Song, Yuli Chen, Heather Tran, Robin Lai, Chris Her, Jacquelyn J. Maher, Barry M. Forman, Andreas Stahl – 24 April 2012 – Bile acids are known to play important roles as detergents in the absorption of hydrophobic nutrients and as signaling molecules in the regulation of metabolism. We tested the novel hypothesis that naturally occurring bile acids interfere with protein‐mediated hepatic long chain free fatty acid (LCFA) uptake.

Monika Ferlitsch, Thomas Reiberger, Matthias Hoke, Petra Salzl, Bernadette Schwengerer, Gregor Ulbrich, Berit Anna Payer, Michael Trauner, Markus Peck‐Radosavljevic, Arnulf Ferlitsch – 24 April 2012 – von Willebrand factor antigen (vWF‐Ag) is elevated in patients with liver cirrhosis, but the clinical significance is unclear. We hypothesized that vWF‐Ag levels may correlate with portal pressure, measured by hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), and predict clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH; HVPG ≥10 mmHg), decompensation and mortality.

Dahee Choi, Kyoung‐Jin Oh, Hye‐Sook Han, Young‐Sil Yoon, Chang‐Yun Jung, Seong‐Tae Kim, Seung‐Hoi Koo – 24 April 2012 – Postprandial insulin plays a critical role in suppressing hepatic glucose production to maintain euglycemia in mammals. Insulin‐dependent activation of protein kinase B (Akt) regulates this process, in part, by inhibiting FoxO1‐dependent hepatic gluconeogenesis by direct phosphorylation and subsequent cytoplasmic exclusion.

Lauren N. Bell, Jiangxia Wang, Sriya Muralidharan, Sadhana Chalasani, Allison M. Fullenkamp, Laura A. Wilson, Arun J. Sanyal, Kris V. Kowdley, Brent A. Neuschwander‐Tetri, Elizabeth M. Brunt, Arthur J. McCullough, Nathan M.

Hiroyuki Tsuchiya, Yoshito Ikeda, Yu Ebata, Chihiro Kojima, Rikutaro Katsuma, Tatsuaki Tsuruyama, Tomohiko Sakabe, Kohei Shomori, Noriko Komeda, Shoko Oshiro, Hideharu Okamoto, Kazuko Takubo, Susumu Hama, Koichi Shudo, Kentaro Kogure, Goshi Shiota – 24 April 2012 – Transgenic mice expressing dominant‐negative retinoic acid receptor (RAR) α specifically in the liver exhibit steatohepatitis, which leads to the development of liver tumors.

Benjamin Krämer, Christian Körner, Moritz Kebschull, Andreas Glässner, Marianne Eisenhardt, Hans‐Dieter Nischalke, Michael Alexander, Tilman Sauerbruch, Ulrich Spengler, Jacob Nattermann – 24 April 2012 – Natural killer (NK) cells play a role in the early control and natural course of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. NK cell function is regulated by a multitude of receptors, including activating NKp46 receptor. However, reports on NKp46 in hepatitis C are controversial.

Yugo Ando, Guo‐Xiang Yang, Masanobu Tsuda, Kazuhito Kawata, Weici Zhang, Takahiko Nakajima, Koichi Tsuneyama, Patrick Leung, Zhe‐Xiong Lian, Kazuichi Okazaki, William M. Ridgway, Gary L. Norman, Aftab A. Ansari, Xiao‐Song He, Ross L. Coppel, M. Eric Gershwin – 24 April 2012 – Dominant negative form of transforming growth factor beta receptor type II (dnTGFβRII) mice, expressing a dominant negative form of TGFβ receptor II under control of the CD4 promoter, develop autoimmune colitis and cholangitis.