Wing‐Kin Syn, Steve S. Choi, Evaggelia Liaskou, Gamze F. Karaca, Kolade M. Agboola, Ye Htun Oo, Zhiyong Mi, Thiago A. Pereira, Marzena Zdanowicz, Padmini Malladi, Yuping Chen, Cynthia Moylan, Youngmi Jung, Syamal D. Bhattacharya, Vanessa Teaberry, Alessia Omenetti, Manal F. Abdelmalek, Cynthia D. Guy, David H. Adams, Paul C. Kuo, Gregory A. Michelotti, Peter F. Whitington, Anna Mae Diehl – 20 September 2010 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a leading cause of cirrhosis. Recently, we showed that NASH‐related cirrhosis is associated with Hedgehog (Hh) pathway activation.

Terence Kin Wah Lee, Antonia Castilho, Vincent Chi Ho Cheung, Kwan Ho Tang, Stephanie Ma, Irene Oi Lin Ng – 20 September 2010 – Liver tumor‐initiating cells (T‐ICs) are capable of self‐renewal and tumor initiation and are more chemoresistant to chemotherapeutic drugs. The current therapeutic strategies for targeting stem cell self‐renewal pathways therefore represent rational approaches for cancer prevention and treatment.

Herbert Tilg, Alexander R. Moschen – 20 September 2010 – Whereas in most cases a fatty liver remains free of inflammation, 10%‐20% of patients who have fatty liver develop inflammation and fibrosis (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis [NASH]). Inflammation may precede steatosis in certain instances. Therefore, NASH could reflect a disease where inflammation is followed by steatosis. In contrast, NASH subsequent to simple steatosis may be the consequence of a failure of antilipotoxic protection.

Boris Blechacz, Gregory J. Gores – 20 September 2010

Marco Antonio Montes‐Cano, José Raúl García‐Lozano, Cristina Abad‐Molina, Manuel Romero‐Gómez, Natalia Barroso, José Aguilar‐Reina, Antonio Núñez‐Roldán, María Francisca González‐Escribano – 17 September 2010

Emmanuel Thomas, Jordan J. Feld, Qisheng Li, Zongyi Hu, Michael W. Fried, T. Jake Liang – 14 September 2010 – The combination of pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) and ribavirin is the standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C. Our recent clinical study suggests that ribavirin augments the induction of interferon‐stimulated genes (ISGs) in patients treated for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In order to further characterize the mechanisms of action of ribavirin, we examined the effect of ribavirin treatment on ISG induction in cell culture.

Iván L. Csanaky, Hong Lu, Youcai Zhang, Kenichiro Ogura, Supratim Choudhuri, Curtis D. Klaassen – 14 September 2010 – The organic anion–transporting polypeptide 1b family (Oatp1b2 in rodents and OATP1B1/1B3 in humans) is liver‐specific and transports various chemicals into the liver. However, the role of the Oatp1b family in the hepatic uptake of bile acids (BAs) into the liver is unknown. Therefore, in Oatp1b2‐null mice, the concentrations of BAs in plasma, liver, and bile were compared with wild‐type (WT) mice.

Nancy Díaz‐Valdés, Lorea Manterola, Virginia Belsúe, José I. Riezu‐Boj, Esther Larrea, Itziar Echeverria, Diana Llópiz, Jacinto López‐Sagaseta, Hervé Lerat, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky, Jesús Prieto, Juan J. Lasarte, Francisco Borrás‐Cuesta, Pablo Sarobe – 14 September 2010 – The high levels of interleukin 10 (IL‐10) present in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have been suggested as responsible for the poor antiviral cellular immune responses found in these patients.

Jayant A. Talwalkar – 14 September 2010

Zixue Jin, Rui Sun, Haiming Wei, Xiang Gao, Yongyan Chen, Zhigang Tian – 14 September 2010 – The immunopathogenic process from hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection to liver fibrosis is incompletely understood because it lacks an animal model. In this study we observed the development of liver fibrosis in HBV transgenic (HBV‐tg) mice and found the roles of natural killer T (NKT) cells in HBV‐related liver fibrosis.