Elena Corradini, Delphine Meynard, Qifang Wu, Shan Chen, Paolo Ventura, Antonello Pietrangelo, Jodie L. Babitt – 12 April 2011 – The bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6)‐SMAD signaling pathway is a central regulator of hepcidin expression and systemic iron balance. However, the molecular mechanisms by which iron is sensed to regulate BMP6‐SMAD signaling and hepcidin expression are unknown. Here we examined the effects of circulating and tissue iron on Bmp6‐Smad pathway activation and hepcidin expression in vivo after acute and chronic enteral iron administration in mice.

Frank A. Schildberg, Alexandra Wojtalla, Sören V. Siegmund, Elmar Endl, Linda Diehl, Zeinab Abdullah, Christian Kurts, Percy A. Knolle – 12 April 2011 – The liver has a role in T cell tolerance induction, which is mainly achieved through the functions of tolerogenic hepatic antigen‐presenting cells (APCs) and regulatory T cells. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are known to have various immune functions, which range from immunogenic antigen presentation to the induction of T cell apoptosis. Here we report a novel role for stellate cells in vetoing the priming of naive CD8 T cells.

Silvia Sookoian, Carlos J. Pirola – 12 April 2011

Guanghua Rong, Renqian Zhong, Ana Lleo, Patrick S.C. Leung, Christopher L. Bowlus, Guo‐Xiang Yang, Chen‐Yen Yang, Ross L. Coppel, Aftab A. Ansari, Dean A. Cuebas, Howard J. Worman, Pietro Invernizzi, Gregory J. Gores, Gary Norman, Xiao‐Song He, M. Eric Gershwin – 12 April 2011 – A major enigma of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is the selective targeting of biliary cells.

Giliola Calori, Guido Lattuada, Francesca Ragogna, Maria Paola Garancini, Paolo Crosignani, Marco Villa, Emanuele Bosi, Giacomo Ruotolo, Lorenzo Piemonti, Gianluca Perseghin – 12 April 2011 – A fatty liver, which is a common feature in insulin‐resistant states, can lead to chronic liver disease. It has been hypothesized that a fatty liver can also increase the rates of non–hepatic‐related morbidity and mortality.

Barbara E. Wildhaber – 12 April 2011

Arduino Arduini, Mario Bonomini – 12 April 2011

Malcolm R. Alison, Wey‐Ran Lin – 7 April 2011 – The liver and exocrine pancreas share a common structure, with functioning units (hepatic plates and pancreatic acini) connected to the ductal tree. Here we show that Sox9 is expressed throughout the biliary and pancreatic ductal epithelia, which are connected to the intestinal stem‐cell zone. Cre‐based lineage tracing showed that adult intestinal cells, hepatocytes and pancreatic acinar cells are supplied physiologically from Sox9‐expressing progenitors.

Bruno Christ, Peggy Stock, Matthias M. Dollinger – 7 April 2011 – Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are generally dormant or slowly cycling tumor cells that have the ability to reconstitute tumors. They are thought to be involved in tumor resistance to chemo/radiation therapy and tumor relapse and progression. However, neither their existence nor their identity within many cancers has been well defined.

Markus Casper, Frank Grünhage, Frank Lammert – 7 April 2011 – To identify susceptibility variants for hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we conducted a genome‐wide association study by genotyping 440,794 SNPs in 355 chronic HBV carriers with HCC and 360 chronic HBV carriers without HCC, all of Chinese ancestry.