Histological changes in HCV antibody–positive, HCV RNA–negative subjects suggest persistent virus infection

Matthew Hoare, William T. H. Gelson, Simon M. Rushbrook, Martin D. Curran, Tracy Woodall, Nicholas Coleman, Susan E. Davies, Graeme J. M. Alexander – 24 November 2008 – It is unclear whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been eradicated or persists at a low level in HCV antibody–positive HCV RNA–negative individuals. The natural history and liver histology are not well characterized. One hundred seventy‐two HCV antibody–positive, serum HCV RNA–negative patients underwent diagnostic liver biopsy between 1992 and 2000 and were followed a median 7 years (range, 5–12).

Flow cytometric isolation and clonal identification of self‐renewing bipotent hepatic progenitor cells in adult mouse liver

Atsushi Suzuki, Sayaka Sekiya, Makiko Onishi, Naoko Oshima, Hiroshi Kiyonari, Hiromitsu Nakauchi, Hideki Taniguchi – 24 November 2008 – The adult liver progenitor cells appear in response to several types of pathological liver injury, especially when hepatocyte replication is blocked. These cells are histologically identified as cells that express cholangiocyte markers and proliferate in the portal area of the hepatic lobule.

Lentiviral‐mediated miRNA against osteopontin suppresses tumor growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma

Bing‐Sheng Sun, Qiong‐Zhu Dong, Qing‐Hai Ye, Hai‐Jing Sun, Hu‐Liang Jia, Xiao‐Qun Zhu, Dao‐Yong Liu, Jie Chen, Qiong Xue, Hai‐Jun Zhou, Ning Ren, Lun‐Xiu Qin – 24 November 2008 – In our previous study, osteopontin (OPN) was identified as one of the leading genes that promote the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the mechanism by which OPN promotes metastasis of HCC is not understood. In this study, RNA interference mediated by viral vectors—which could induce a long‐lasting down‐regulation in gene expression—was applied to analyze the role of OPN in metastasis of HCC.

Xenobiotic incorporation into pyruvate dehydrogenase complex can occur via the exogenous lipoylation pathway

Hannah R. Walden, John A. Kirby, Stephen J. Yeaman, Joe Gray, David E. Jones, Jeremy M. Palmer – 24 November 2008 – Lipoylated enzymes such as the E2 component of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC‐E2) are targets for autoreactive immune responses in primary biliary cirrhosis, with lipoic acid itself forming a component of the dominant auto‐epitopes. A candidate mechanism for the initiation of tolerance breakdown in this disease is immune recognition of neo‐antigens formed by xenobiotic substitution of normal proteins.

Liver regeneration in donors and adult recipients after living donor liver transplantation

Junko Haga, Motohide Shimazu, Go Wakabayashi, Minoru Tanabe, Shigeyuki Kawachi, Yasushi Fuchimoto, Ken Hoshino, Yasuhide Morikawa, Masaki Kitajima, Yuko Kitagawa – 24 November 2008 – In living donor liver transplantation, the safety of the donor operation is the highest priority. The introduction of the right lobe graft was late because of concerns about donor safety. We investigated donor liver regeneration by the types of resected segments as well as recipients to assess that appropriate regeneration was occurring.

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