Patrick Labonté, Syntia Begley, Carl Guévin, Marie‐Claude Asselin, Nasha Nassoury, Gaétan Mayer, Annik Prat, Nabil G. Seidah – 23 June 2009 – Human PCSK9 is known to enhance the degradation of membrane‐bound receptors such as the hepatocyte low‐density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), ApoER2, and very low‐density lipoprotein receptor. Because the LDLR is suspected to be involved in hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry, we also tested whether PCSK9 can affect the levels of CD81, a major HCV receptor.

Águeda González‐Rodriguez, Javier Alba, Valeri Zimmerman, Sara C. Kozma, Ángela M. Valverde – 23 June 2009 – The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/S6K1 signaling pathway controls cell growth and proliferation. To assess the importance of S6K1 in the balance between death and survival in the liver, we have generated immortalized hepatocyte cell lines from wild‐type and S6K1‐deficient (S6K1−/−) mice. In S6K1−/− hepatocytes, caspase‐8 and the pro‐apoptotic protein Bid were constitutively down‐regulated as compared with wild‐type.

Lyle C. Gurrin, Nadine A. Bertalli, Gregory W. Dalton, Nicholas J. Osborne, Clare C. Constantine, Christine E. McLaren, Dallas R. English, Dorota M. Gertig, Martin B. Delatycki, Amanda J. Nicoll, Melissa C. Southey, John L. Hopper, Graham G. Giles, Gregory J. Anderson, John K. Olynyk, Lawrie W. Powell, Katrina J. Allen, HealthIron Study Investigators – 23 June 2009 – The risk of hemochromatosis‐related morbidity is unknown among HFE compound heterozygotes (C282Y/H63D).

Claudio Puoti, Riccardo Guarisco, Lia Bellis, Lucia Spilabotti – 23 June 2009

Shyam Kottilil, Michael Y. Yan, Kristin N. Reitano, Xiaozhen Zhang, Richard Lempicki, Gregg Roby, Marybeth Daucher, Jun Yang, Karoll J. Cortez, Marc Ghany, Michael A. Polis, Anthony S. Fauci – 23 June 2009 – Coinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is present in one‐third of all human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐infected individuals in the United States and is associated with rapid progression of liver fibrosis and poor response to pegylated interferon (IFN) and ribavirin.

Anna M. G. Cali, Sonia Caprio – 23 June 2009

Stefan Vollmer, Valérie Kappler, Jakub Kaczor, Daniela Flügel, Catherine Rolvering, Nobuyuki Kato, Thomas Kietzmann, Iris Behrmann, Claude Haan – 23 June 2009 – The interleukin‐6–type cytokine oncostatin M (OSM) acts via the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription pathway as well as via activation of mitogen‐activated protein kinases and is known to critically regulate processes such as liver development and regeneration, hematopoiesis, and angiogenesis, which are also determined by hypoxia with the hypoxia‐inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) as a key component.

Karlin Raja Karlmark, Ralf Weiskirchen, Henning W. Zimmermann, Nikolaus Gassler, Florent Ginhoux, Christian Weber, Miriam Merad, Tom Luedde, Christian Trautwein, Frank Tacke – 23 June 2009 – In addition to liver‐resident Kupffer cells, infiltrating immune cells have recently been linked to the development of liver fibrosis. Blood monocytes are circulating precursors of tissue macrophages and can be divided into two functionally distinct subpopulations in mice: Gr1hi (Ly6Chi) and Gr1lo (Ly6Clo) monocytes.

Nathan A. Davies, Gavin Wright, Lars M. Ytrebø, Vanessa Stadlbauer, Ole‐Martin Fuskevåg, Claudia Zwingmann, D. Ceri Davies, Abeba Habtesion, Stephen J. Hodges, Rajiv Jalan – 23 June 2009 – Treatment of hyperammonemia and hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhosis is an unmet clinical need.

Mario Strazzabosco, Romina Fiorotto, Saida Melero, Shannon Glaser, Heather Francis, Carlo Spirli, Gianfranco Alpini – 23 June 2009 – Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is generated by adenylyl cyclases (ACs), a group of enzymes with different tissue specificity and regulation. We hypothesized that AC isoforms are heterogeneously expressed along the biliary tree, are associated with specific secretory stimuli, and are differentially modulated in cholestasis.