Fighting against viral hepatitis: Lessons from Taiwan

Ding‐Shinn Chen – 30 June 2011 – Viral hepatitis and its sequelae are important health problems worldwide, including Taiwan. For the last 40 years, Taiwan's scientists and health care providers have worked hard to control these sequelae, and the results have been excellent. The author, Ding‐Shinn Chen, had a key role in planning and establishing the control program in Taiwan, and participated in the endeavors from the very beginning.

Spontaneous repopulation of β‐catenin null livers with β‐catenin‐positive hepatocytes after chronic murine liver injury

Michael D. Thompson, Emily D. Wickline, William B. Bowen, Amy Lu, Sucha Singh, Amalea Misse, Satdarshan P.S. Monga – 30 June 2011 – Prolonged exposure of mice to diet containing 0.1% 3,5‐diethoxycarbonyl‐1,4‐dihydrocollidine (DDC) results in hepatobiliary injury, atypical ductular proliferation, oval cell appearance, and limited fibrosis. Previously, we reported that short‐term ingestion of DDC diet by hepatocyte‐specific β‐catenin conditional knockout (KO) mice led to fewer A6‐positive oval cells than wildtype (WT) littermates.

Intercellular nanovesicle‐mediated microRNA transfer: A mechanism of environmental modulation of hepatocellular cancer cell growth

Takayuki Kogure, Wen‐Lang Lin, Irene K. Yan, Chiara Braconi, Tushar Patel – 30 June 2011 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by a propensity for multifocality, growth by local spread, and dysregulation of multiple signaling pathways. These features may be determined by the tumoral microenvironment. The potential of tumor cells to modulate HCC growth and behavior by secreted proteins has been extensively studied. In contrast, the potential for genetic modulation is poorly understood.

Genetic variation in the interleukin‐28B gene is not associated with fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C and known date of infection

Francesco Marabita, Alessio Aghemo, Stella De Nicola, Maria G. Rumi, Cristina Cheroni, Rossana Scavelli, Marco Crimi, Roberta Soffredini, Sergio Abrignani, Raffaele De Francesco, Massimo Colombo – 30 June 2011 – Polymorphisms in the interleukin‐28B (IL28B) region are associated with spontaneous and treatment‐induced viral clearance in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Nevertheless, it is unknown whether genetic variation at the IL28B locus influences the natural history of chronic HCV infection.

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