Maximilian Hatting, Christian Trautwein, Francisco Javier Cubero – 27 August 2009

Anna S. F. Lok, Brian J. McMahon – 27 August 2009

Udayan Apte, Vasiliki Gkretsi, William C. Bowen, Wendy M. Mars, Jian‐Hua Luo, Shashikiran Donthamsetty, Ann Orr, Satdarshan P.S. Monga, Chuanyue Wu, George K. Michalopoulos – 27 August 2009 – Following liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy, liver grows back precisely to its original mass and does not exceed it. The mechanism regulating this “hepatostat” is not clear and no exceptions have been found to date. Although pathways initiating liver regeneration have been well studied, mechanisms involved in the termination of liver regeneration are unclear.

Janin Henkel, Frank Neuschäfer‐Rube, Andrea Pathe‐Neuschäfer‐Rube, Gerhard P. Püschel – 27 August 2009 – Hepatic insulin resistance is a major contributor to fasting hyperglycemia in patients with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Circumstantial evidence suggests that cyclooxygenase products in addition to cytokines might contribute to insulin resistance. However, direct evidence for a role of prostaglandins in the development of hepatic insulin resistance is lacking.

Olav A. Gressner – 27 August 2009 – Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have reported that increased coffee consumption is associated with a slower progression of fibrogenesis in patients with chronic and particularly alcoholic liver disease and a reduced incidence of heptocellular carcinoma. However, a causal mechanistic explanation was pending.

Ching‐Sheng Hsu, Ding‐Shinn Chen, Jia‐Horng Kao – 27 August 2009

Manal M. Hassan, James L Abbruzzese – 27 August 2009

Bastian Hoechst, Torsten Voigtlaender, Lars Ormandy, Jaba Gamrekelashvili, Fei Zhao, Heiner Wedemeyer, Frank Lehner, Michael P. Manns, Tim F. Greten, Firouzeh Korangy – 27 August 2009 – Several immune suppressive mechanisms that evade the host immune response have been described in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); one of these mechanisms is expansion of myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs have been shown to inhibit T cell responses in tumor‐bearing mice, but little is known about these cells in humans.

Sandra March, Elliot E. Hui, Gregory H. Underhill, Salman Khetani, Sangeeta N. Bhatia – 27 August 2009 – Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) differ, both structurally and functionally, from endothelial cells (ECs) lining blood vessels of other tissues. For example, in contrast to other ECs, LSECs possess fenestrations, have low detectable levels of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 expression, and in rat tissue, they distinctively express a cell surface marker recognized by the SE‐1 antibody.

Amalia Gastaldelli, Giorgio Bedogni, Beverley Balkau – 27 August 2009