Montserrat Moreno, Teresa Gonzalo, Robbert J. Kok, Pau Sancho‐Bru, Marike van Beuge, Josine Swart, Jai Prakash, Kai Temming, Constantino Fondevila, Leonie Beljaars, Marie Lacombe, Paul van der Hoeven, Vicente Arroyo, Klaas Poelstra, David A. Brenner, Pere Ginès, Ramón Bataller – 9 November 2009 – There is no effective therapy for advanced liver fibrosis. Angiotensin type 1 (AT1) receptor blockers attenuate liver fibrogenesis, yet their efficacy in reversing advanced fibrosis is unknown.

Hisashi Moriguchi, Raymond T. Chung, Chifumi Sato – 9 November 2009

Narci C. Teoh, Jacqueline Williams, Jennifer Hartley, Jun Yu, Robert S. McCuskey, Geoffrey C. Farrell – 9 November 2009 – Steatosis increases operative morbidity/mortality from ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI); few pharmacological approaches have been protective.

Anna Alisi, Clara Balsano – 3 November 2009

D. Montgomery Bissell – 29 October 2009 – D. Montgomery Bissell briefly describes the way he came to a career in academic medicine, how he found mentors, initial projects, and finally a focus on matrix biology and hepatic fibrosis. He draws some lessons from the experience, which should have relevance for physician‐scientist trainees, those considering that path, anyone with responsibility for training the next generation, institutional leaders, and the National Institutes of Health. (HEPATOLOGY 2009;50:1330–1338.)

Gianluigi Giannelli – 29 October 2009

Ling Xiao Liu, Nikki P. Lee, Vivian W. Chan, Wen Xue, Lars Zender, Chunsheng Zhang, Mao Mao, Hongyue Dai, Xiao Lin Wang, Michelle Z. Xu, Terence K. Lee, Irene O. Ng, Yangchao Chen, Hsiang‐fu Kung, Scott W. Lowe, Ronnie T.P. Poon, Jian Hua Wang, John M. Luk – 29 October 2009 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a lethal malignancy for which there are no effective therapies. To develop rational therapeutic approaches for treating this disease, we are performing proof‐of‐principle studies targeting molecules crucial for the development of HCC.

Qiang Deng, Maryline Mancini‐Bourgine, Xiaoming Zhang, Marie‐Christine Cumont, Ren Zhu, Yu‐Chun Lone, Marie‐Louise Michel – 29 October 2009 – Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is characterized by functionally impaired T cell responses. To ensure active immunotherapy, the immune response must be switched from exhausted T cells to functional effectors that can attain the liver and cure the viral infection. We thus designed a recombinant HBV (rHBV) containing a modified viral core gene that specifically delivers a foreign antigenic polyepitope to the liver.

Robin Haring, Henri Wallaschofski, Matthias Nauck, Marcus Dörr, Sebastian E. Baumeister, Henry Völzke – 29 October 2009 – The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of serum gamma‐glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels with all‐cause mortality and to assess the impact of ultrasonographic findings of hepatic hyperechogenicity in that association. We used data from 4,160 subjects (2,044 men and 2,116 women) recruited for the population‐based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) without baseline hepatitis B and C infections or liver cirrhosis.

Dineke E. Folmer, Vincent A. van der Mark, Kam S. Ho‐Mok, Ronald P.J. Oude Elferink, Coen C. Paulusma – 29 October 2009 – Mutations in ATP8B1 cause progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 1 (PFIC1) and benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis type 1 (BRIC1), forming a spectrum of cholestatic disease. Whereas PFIC1 is a progressive, endstage liver disease, BRIC1 patients suffer from episodic periods of cholestasis that resolve spontaneously. At present it is not clear how the type and location of the mutations relate to the clinical manifestations of PFIC1 and BRIC1.