Limin Xia, Wenjie Huang, Dean Tian, Hongwu Zhu, Xingshun Qi, Zheng Chen, Yongguo Zhang, Hao Hu, Daiming Fan, Yongzhan Nie, Kaichun Wu – 22 August 2012 – Recurrence and metastasis remain the most common causes of lethal outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative resection. Thus, it is critical to discover the mechanisms underlying HCC metastasis. Forkhead box C1 (FoxC1), a member of the Fox family of transcription factors, induces epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) and promotes epithelial cell migration.

Akira Honda, Tadashi Ikegami, Makoto Nakamuta, Teruo Miyazaki, Junichi Iwamoto, Takeshi Hirayama, Yoshifumi Saito, Hajime Takikawa, Michio Imawari, Yasushi Matsuzaki – 22 August 2012 – Bezafibrate is a widely used hypolipidemic agent and is known as a ligand of the peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptors (PPARs). Recently this agent has come to be recognized as a potential anticholestatic medicine for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) that does not respond sufficiently to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) monotherapy.

Alessia Bortoluzzi, Giulio Ceolotto, Elisabetta Gola, Antonietta Sticca, Sergio Bova, Filippo Morando, Salvatore Piano, Silvano Fasolato, Silvia Rosi, Angelo Gatta, Paolo Angeli – 22 August 2012 – The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect and molecular mechanism of albumin infusion on cardiac contractility in experimental cirrhosis with ascites. Cardiac contractility was recorded ex vivo in rats with cirrhosis and ascites and in control rats after the injection in the caudal vein of albumin, saline, or hydroxyethyl starch (HES).

John Paul Roberts – 18 August 2012 – Key Points

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Vincent W. Keng, Daniela Sia, Aaron L. Sarver, Barbara R. Tschida, Danhua Fan, Clara Alsinet, Manel Solé, Wai L. Lee, Timothy P. Kuka, Branden S. Moriarity, Augusto Villanueva, Adam J. Dupuy, Jesse D. Riordan, Jason B. Bell, Kevin A. T.Silverstein, Josep M. Llovet, David A. Largaespada – 16 August 2012 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest solid cancers and is the third leading cause of cancer‐related death. There is a universal estimated male/female ratio of 2.5, but the reason for this is not well understood.