E‐cadherin antagonizes transforming growth factor β1 gene induction in hepatic stellate cells by inhibiting RhoA–dependent Smad3 phosphorylation

Il Je Cho, Young Woo Kim, Chang Yeob Han, Eun Hyun Kim, Richard A. Anderson, Young Sok Lee, Chang Ho Lee, Se Jin Hwang, Sang Geon Kim – 20 August 2010 – Cadherins mediate cell‐cell adhesion and catenin (ctn)‐related signaling pathways. Liver fibrosis is accompanied by the loss of E‐cadherin (ECAD), which promotes the process of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition. Currently, no information is available about the inhibitory role of ECAD in hepatic stellate cell activation.

Type 2 diabetes in mice induces hepatic overexpression of sulfatase 2, a novel factor that suppresses uptake of remnant lipoproteins

Keyang Chen, Ming‐Lin Liu, Lana Schaffer, Mingzhen Li, Guenther Boden, Xiangdong Wu, Kevin Jon Williams – 20 August 2010 – Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) impairs hepatic clearance of atherogenic postprandial remnant lipoproteins. Our work and that of others have identified syndecan‐1 heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) as remnant lipoprotein receptors. Nevertheless, defects in the T2DM liver have not been molecularly characterized, and neither has the correction that occurs upon caloric restriction.

Interleukin‐6 is an important mediator for mitochondrial DNA repair after alcoholic liver injury in mice

Xiuying Zhang, Shingo Tachibana, Hua Wang, Masayuki Hisada, George Melville Williams, Bin Gao, Zhaoli Sun – 20 August 2010 – We investigated the hypothesis that a prominent effect of chronic ethanol consumption is mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) injury and compared this injury in IL‐6 knockout (KO) and wild‐type (WT) mice. Ethanol feeding for 4 weeks resulted in steatosis and oxidative mtDNA damage (8‐OHdG) in both IL‐6KO and WT mice.

Transcription factors ETF, E2F, and SP‐1 are involved in cytokine‐independent proliferation of murine hepatocytes

Sebastian Zellmer, Wolfgang Schmidt‐Heck, Patricio Godoy, Honglei Weng, Christoph Meyer, Thomas Lehmann, Titus Sparna, Wiebke Schormann, Seddik Hammad, Clemens Kreutz, Jens Timmer, Fritz von Weizsäcker, Petra A. Thürmann, Irmgard Merfort, Reinhard Guthke, Steven Dooley, Jan G. Hengstler, Rolf Gebhardt – 20 August 2010 – The cellular basis of liver regeneration has been intensely investigated for many years. However, the mechanisms initiating hepatocyte “plasticity” and priming for proliferation are not yet fully clear.

Micro‐RNA profiling reveals a role for miR‐29 in human and murine liver fibrosis

Christoph Roderburg, Gerd‐Willem Urban, Kira Bettermann, Mihael Vucur, Henning Zimmermann, Sabine Schmidt, Jörn Janssen, Christiane Koppe, Percy Knolle, Mirco Castoldi, Frank Tacke, Christian Trautwein, Tom Luedde – 20 August 2010 – Liver fibrosis is orchestrated by a complex network of signaling pathways regulating the deposition of extracellular matrix proteins during fibrogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent a family of small noncoding RNAs controlling translation and transcription of many genes.

Epigenetic regulation of insulin resistance in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Impact of liver methylation of the peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ coactivator 1α promoter

Silvia Sookoian, Maria Soledad Rosselli, Carolina Gemma, Adriana L. Burgueño, Tomas Fernández Gianotti, Gustavo O. Castaño, Carlos J. Pirola – 20 August 2010 – Insulin resistance (IR) and mitochondrial dysfunction play a central role in the pathophysiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We hypothesized that genetic factors and epigenetic modifications occurring in the liver contribute to the IR phenotype.

Biliverdin inhibits hepatitis C virus nonstructural 3/4A protease activity: Mechanism for the antiviral effects of heme oxygenase?

Zhaowen Zhu, Anne T. Wilson, Bruce A. Luxon, Kyle E. Brown, M. Meleah Mathahs, Sarmistha Bandyopadhyay, Anton P. McCaffrey, Warren N. Schmidt – 20 August 2010 – Induction of heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) inhibits hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. Of the products of the reaction catalyzed by HO‐1, iron has been shown to inhibit HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase, but little is known about the antiviral activity of biliverdin (BV).

Liver‐specific deletion of prohibitin 1 results in spontaneous liver injury, fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma in mice

Kwang Suk Ko, Maria Lauda Tomasi, Ainhoa Iglesias‐Ara, Barbara A. French, Samuel W. French, Komal Ramani, Juan José Lozano, Pilsoo Oh, Lina He, Bangyan L Stiles, Tony W.H Li, Heping Yang, M. Luz Martínez‐Chantar, José M. Mato, Shelly C. Lu – 20 August 2010 – Prohibitin 1 (PHB1) is a highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed protein that participates in diverse processes including mitochondrial chaperone, growth and apoptosis. The role of PHB1 in vivo is unclear and whether it is a tumor suppressor is controversial.

IL28B genotype is associated with differential expression of intrahepatic interferon‐stimulated genes in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Thomas J. Urban, Alexander J. Thompson, Shelton S. Bradrick, Jacques Fellay, Detlef Schuppan, Kenneth D. Cronin, Linda Hong, Alexander McKenzie, Keyur Patel, Kevin V. Shianna, John G. McHutchison, David B. Goldstein, Nezam Afdhal – 20 August 2010 – Genetic variation in the IL28B (interleukin 28B; interferon lambda 3) region has been associated with sustained virological response (SVR) rates in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) who were treated with peginterferon‐α and ribavirin.

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