Yun‐Fan Liaw – 25 July 2011 – This clinically relevant review focuses on recent findings concerning hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) quantitation in untreated patients and treated patients with chronic hepatitis B. Recent studies and emerging data have shown that both HBsAg and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels decline during the natural course of a chronic HBV infection; they are lowest in the inactive phase, which is also characterized by the highest HBsAg/HBV DNA ratio.

Meital Gal‐Tanamy, Larisa Bachmetov, Amiram Ravid, Ruth Koren, Arie Erman, Ran Tur‐Kaspa, Romy Zemel – 25 July 2011 – Vitamin D supplementation was reported to improve the probability of achieving a sustained virological response when combined with antiviral treatment against hepatitis C virus (HCV). Our aim was to determine the in vitro potential of vitamin D to inhibit HCV infectious virus production and explore the mechanism(s) of inhibition. Here we show that vitamin D3 remarkably inhibits HCV production in Huh7.5 hepatoma cells.

Steve S. Choi, Shelton Bradrick, Guan Qiang, Anahita Mostafavi, Gaurav Chaturvedi, Steven A. Weinman, Anna Mae Diehl, Ravi Jhaveri – 25 July 2011 – Studies of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life‐cycle rely heavily on Huh7.5 cells, but the reasons why these cells are exceptionally permissive for HCV replication are not clear. Based on recent clinical observations, we hypothesized that the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, which has not been previously associated with HCV replication, may be involved in the Huh7.5 phenotype of increased permissiveness.

Frank A. Schildberg, Christian Kurts, Percy A. Knolle – 25 July 2011

Nataliya Razumilava, Gregory J. Gores, Keith D. Lindor – 25 July 2011 – Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic fibroinflammatory syndrome involving the biliary tract, often accompanied by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This syndrome is a prototype disease linking chronic inflammation to carcinogenesis. Indeed, PSC is associated with an increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and colorectal cancer.

Hui‐Young Lee, Andreas L. Birkenfeld, Francois R. Jornayvaz, Michael J. Jurczak, Shoichi Kanda, Violeta Popov, David W. Frederick, Dongyan Zhang, Blas Guigni, Kalyani G. Bharadwaj, Cheol Soo Choi, Ira J. Goldberg, Jae‐Hak Park, Kitt F. Petersen, Varman T. Samuel, Gerald I. Shulman – 25 July 2011 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance have recently been found to be associated with increased plasma concentrations of apolipoprotein CIII (APOC3) in humans carrying single nucleotide polymorphisms within the insulin response element of the APOC3 gene.

Hong Cao, Eugene W. Krueger, Mark A. McNiven – 25 July 2011 – Clathrin‐mediated endocytosis in mammalian epithelial cells is believed to require the synergistic action of structural coat proteins and mechanochemical enzymes to deform and sever the plasma membrane (PM) into discreet vesicles. It is generally believed that the formation of clathrin‐coated pits in epithelial cells occurs randomly along the apical and basolateral plasma membranes.

Ronnie T.P. Poon – 25 July 2011

Fanyin Meng, Yuyan Han, Dustin Staloch, Taylor Francis, Allison Stokes, Heather Francis – 25 July 2011 – Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a biliary cancer arising from damaged bile ducts. Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) occurs as epithelial cells begin to resemble mesenchymal cells leading to increased invasion potential as the extracellular matrix (ECM) degrades. Histamine exerts its effects by way of four receptors (H1‐H4 HRs). Clobenpropit, a potent H4HR agonist, inhibits mammary adenocarcinoma growth.

Rohan Manohar, Junji Komori, Lynda Guzik, Donna B. Stolz, Uma R. Chandran, William A. LaFramboise, Eric Lagasse – 25 July 2011 – The identification of resident stem cells in the mouse gallbladder is, to date, unexplored. In addition, the relationship between adult gallbladder stem cells and intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD) cells is not well understood. The aim of this study was to isolate stem cells from an adult mouse gallbladder and determine whether they were unique, compared to IHBD cells.