The stable repression of mesenchymal program is required for hepatocyte identity: A novel role for hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α

Laura Santangelo, Alessandra Marchetti, Carla Cicchini, Alice Conigliaro, Beatrice Conti, Carmine Mancone, Jessica A. Bonzo, Frank J. Gonzalez, Tonino Alonzi, Laura Amicone, Marco Tripodi – 7 March 2011 – The concept that cellular terminal differentiation is stably maintained once development is complete has been questioned by numerous observations showing that differentiated epithelium may undergo an epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) program.

High predictive accuracy of an unbiased proteomic profile for sustained virologic response in chronic hepatitis C patients

Keyur Patel, Joseph E. Lucas, J. Will Thompson, Laura G. Dubois, Hans L. Tillmann, Alexander J. Thompson, Diane Uzarski, Robert M. Califf, Martin A. Moseley, Geoffrey S. Ginsburg, John G. McHutchison, Jeanette J. McCarthy, for the MURDOCK Horizon 1 Study Team – 4 March 2011 – Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection is a leading cause of endstage liver disease. Current standard‐of‐care (SOC) interferon‐based therapy results in sustained virological response (SVR) in only one‐half of patients, and is associated with significant side effects.

Meta‐analysis of the influence of I148M variant of patatin‐like phospholipase domain containing 3 gene (PNPLA3) on the susceptibility and histological severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Silvia Sookoian, Carlos J. Pirola – 4 March 2011 – Our objective was to estimate the strength of the effect of the I148M (rs738409 C/G) patatin‐like phospholipase domain containing 3 (PNPLA3) variant on nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) and disease severity across different populations. We performed a systematic review by a meta‐analysis; literature searches identified 16 studies.

Interleukin‐32: A new proinflammatory cytokine involved in hepatitis C virus‐related liver inflammation and fibrosis

Alexander R. Moschen, Teresa Fritz, Andrew D. Clouston, Ilka Rebhan, Oliver Bauhofer, Helen D. Barrie, Elizabeth E. Powell, Soo‐Hyun Kim, Charles A. Dinarello, Ralf Bartenschlager, Julie R. Jonsson, Herbert Tilg – 4 March 2011 – Interleukin 32 (IL‐32) is a recently described proinflammatory cytokine that activates p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB), thereby inducing proinflammatory cytokines such as IL‐1β and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α). We investigated the role of IL‐32 in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Treatment failure and resistance with direct‐acting antiviral drugs against hepatitis C virus

Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky – 3 March 2011 – Current treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is based on the combination of pegylated interferon‐α and ribavirin. The recent development of direct‐acting antiviral (DAA) molecules that are active on HCV, together with in vitro and in vivo studies showing that these drugs may lead to the selection of resistant viruses if administered alone, has raised concerns that resistance may undermine therapy based on DAAs.

Hepatocyte‐specific hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α is a determinant of lipid accumulation and liver injury in alcohol‐induced steatosis in mice

Bharath Nath, Ivan Levin, Timea Csak, Jan Petrasek, Christian Mueller, Karen Kodys, Donna Catalano, Pranoti Mandrekar, Gyongyi Szabo – 3 March 2011 – Chronic alcohol causes hepatic steatosis and liver hypoxia. Hypoxia‐regulated hypoxia‐inducible factor 1‐α, (HIF‐1α) may regulate liporegulatory genes, but the relationship of HIF‐1 to steatosis remains unknown. We investigated HIF‐1α in alcohol‐induced hepatic lipid accumulation.

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