Shannon Glaser, Ian P. Lam, Antonio Franchitto, Eugenio Gaudio, Paolo Onori, Billy K. Chow, Candace Wise, Shelley Kopriva, Julie Venter, Mellanie White, Yoshiyuki Ueno, David Dostal, Guido Carpino, Romina Mancinelli, Wendy Butler, Valorie Chiasson, Sharon DeMorrow, Heather Francis, Gianfranco Alpini – 23 June 2010 – During bile duct ligation (BDL), the growth of large cholangiocytes is regulated by the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway and is closely associated with increased secretin receptor (SR) expression.

Hua‐Fen Chen, Peter Chen, Chung‐Yi Li – 23 June 2010 – We prospectively investigated 615,532 diabetic patients and 614,871 age‐matched and sex‐matched control subjects selected from National Health Insurance claims for malignant neoplasms of liver and biliary tract (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 9th edition, codes 155 and 156, respectively) between 2000 and 2006. The person‐year approach with Poisson assumption was used to estimate the hazard rates.

Laura N. Cruz, Mateus T. Guerra, Emma Kruglov, Albert Mennone, Celia R. S. Garcia, Ju Chen, Michael H. Nathanson – 23 June 2010 – Multidrug resistance associated protein 2 (Mrp2) is a canalicular transporter responsible for organic anion secretion into bile. Mrp2 activity is regulated by insertion into the plasma membrane; however, the factors that control this are not understood. Calcium (Ca2+) signaling regulates exocytosis of vesicles in most cell types, and the type II inositol 1,4,5‐triphosphate receptor (InsP3R2) regulates Ca2+ release in the canalicular region of hepatocytes.

Jiejie Xu, Xiaojing Yun, Jianhai Jiang, Yuanyan Wei, Yihong Wu, Wei Zhang, Yeheng Liu, Wenzhong Wang, Yumei Wen, Jianxin Gu – 23 June 2010 – One of the serious sequelae of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Among all the proteins encoded by the HBV genome, hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) is highly associated with the development of HCC. Although Notch1 signaling has been found to exert a tumor‐suppressive function during HCC development, the mechanism of interaction between HBx expression and Notch1 signaling needs to be explored.

Takeji Umemura, Yoh Zen, Yasuni Nakanuma, Kendo Kiyosawa – 23 June 2010

Boris Görg, Natalia Qvartskhava, Hans‐Jürgen Bidmon, Nicola Palomero‐Gallagher, Gerald Kircheis, Karl Zilles, Dieter Häussinger – 23 June 2010 – Cell culture studies and animal models point to an important role of oxidative/nitrosative stress in the pathogenesis of cerebral ammonia toxicity. However, it is unknown whether oxidative/nitrosative stress in the brain is also characteristic of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in humans.

Atsushi Matsuda, Atsushi Kuno, Toru Kawamoto, Hideki Matsuzaki, Tatsuro Irimura, Yuzuru Ikehara, Yoh Zen, Yasuni Nakanuma, Masakazu Yamamoto, Nobuhiro Ohkohchi, Junichi Shoda, Jun Hirabayashi, Hisashi Narimatsu – 23 June 2010 – Cholangiocarcinoma (CC) is an aggressive malignant tumor for which useful markers are not presently available for early and precise diagnosis. The aim of this study was therefore to identify a high‐performance diagnostic marker with a special focus on glyco‐alteration of glycoproteins.

Marina G. Silveira, Elizabeth M. Brunt, Jenny Heathcote, Gregory J. Gores, Keith D. Lindor, Marlyn J. Mayo – 23 June 2010

Abby B. Siegel, Sonja K. Olsen, Arthur Magun, Robert S. Brown – 23 June 2010 – The approval of sorafenib as the first effective drug for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a milestone in the treatment of this disease. A better understanding of HCC pathogenesis has led to the development of several novel targeted treatments. HCC is treated in a uniquely multidisciplinary way requiring surgeons, hepatologists, interventional radiologists, and oncologists.

Matthew W. Lawless – 23 June 2010