Sophie E. Krieger, Mirjam B. Zeisel, Christopher Davis, Christine Thumann, Helen J. Harris, Eva K. Schnober, Christopher Mee, Eric Soulier, Cathy Royer, Mélanie Lambotin, Fritz Grunert, Viet Loan Dao Thi, Marlène Dreux, François‐Loïc Cosset, Jane A. McKeating, Catherine Schuster, Thomas F. Baumert – 26 March 2010 – The tight junction protein claudin‐1 (CLDN1) has been shown to be essential for hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry—the first step of viral infection. Due to the lack of neutralizing anti‐CLDN1 antibodies, the role of CLDN1 in the viral entry process is poorly understood.

Sombat Treeprasertsuk, Kris V. Kowdley, Velimir A. C. Luketic, M. Edwyn Harrison, Timothy McCashland, Alex S. Befeler, Denise Harnois, Roberta Jorgensen, Jan Petz, Jill Keach, Jeff Schmoll, Tanya Hoskin, Prabin Thapa, Felicity Enders, Keith D. Lindor – 26 March 2010 – The predictors for developing varices in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) have not been well studied prospectively. We sought to define the predictors for the presence of varices at baseline and for newly developing varices in patients with PSC.

Pantxika Bellecave, Magdalena Sarasin‐Filipowicz, Olivier Donzé, Audrey Kennel, Jérôme Gouttenoire, Etienne Meylan, Luigi Terracciano, Jürg Tschopp, Christoph Sarrazin, Thomas Berg, Darius Moradpour, Markus H. Heim – 26 March 2010 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection induces the endogenous interferon (IFN) system in the liver in some but not all patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Patients with a pre‐activated IFN system are less likely to respond to the current standard therapy with pegylated IFN‐α.

Giuseppe Lo Sasso, Nicola Celli, Mariaelena Caboni, Stefania Murzilli, Lorena Salvatore, Annalisa Morgano, Michele Vacca, Tommaso Pagliani, Paolo Parini, Antonio Moschetta – 26 March 2010 – Cholesterol homeostasis is critical for cellular proliferation. Liver X receptor (LXR) α and β are the nuclear receptors responsible for regulation of cholesterol metabolism. In physiological conditions, high intracellular cholesterol levels cause increased synthesis of oxysterols, which activate LXR, thus triggering a transcriptional response for cholesterol secretion and catabolism.

I‐Chin Wu, Ching‐Lung Lai, Steven‐Huy Bui Han, Kwang‐Hyup Han, Stuart C. Gordon, You‐Chen Chao, Chee‐Kiat Tan, William Sievert, Tawesak Tanwandee, Dong Xu, Boon‐Leong Neo, Ting‐Tsung Chang – 26 March 2010 – Current guidelines for management of chronic hepatitis B recommend treatment for patients presenting with elevated hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) >2 × upper limit of normal (ULN) or histological evidence of liver disease.

P. Thomas Cherian, Bassem Hegab, Simon P. Oliff, Stephen J. Wigmore – 26 March 2010 – In the presence of anatomical variants such as an accessory or replaced (A/R) right hepatic artery (RHA), a conflict of interest can arise during organ retrieval between liver and pancreatic teams. This angiographic study examines the anatomy of the inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery (IPDA), its relation to the A/R RHA, and the implications for the use of livers and pancreases from multiorgan donors.

Xuequn Zhang, Juntao Yang, Yuanbiao Guo, Hua Ye, Chaohui Yu, Chengfu Xu, Lei Xu, Songfeng Wu, Wei Sun, Hangdong Wei, Xue Gao, Yunping Zhu, Xiaohong Qian, Ying Jiang, Youming Li, Fuchu He – 26 March 2010 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as a common public health problem that can progress to end‐stage liver disease. A high‐fat diet (HFD) may promote the development of NAFLD through a mechanism that is poorly understood. We adopted a proteomic approach to examine the effect of HFD on the liver proteome during the progression of NAFLD.

Dong‐Jiang Tang, Sui‐Sui Dong, Ning‐Fang Ma, Dan Xie, Leilei Chen, Li Fu, Sze Hang Lau, Yan Li, Yan Li, Xin‐Yuan Guan – 26 March 2010 – A high incidence of tumor recurrence and metastasis has been reported in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. In the present study a novel metastasis‐related gene, eukaryotic initiation factor 5A2 (EIF5A2), was characterized for its role in HCC metastasis and underlying molecular mechanisms.

Jesper B. Andersen, Roberto Loi, Andrea Perra, Valentina M. Factor, Giovanna M. Ledda‐Columbano, Amedeo Columbano, Snorri S. Thorgeirsson – 26 March 2010 – Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous disease of distinct clinical subgroups. A principal source of tumor heterogeneity may be cell type of origin, which in liver includes hepatocyte or adult stem/progenitor cells. To address this issue, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the fate of the enzyme‐altered preneoplastic lesions in the resistant hepatocyte (RH) model.

Silvia Fargion, Luca Valenti, Anna Ludovica Fracanzani – 26 March 2010