George V. Papatheodoridis, Emanuel K. Manesis, Spilios Manolakopoulos, Ioannis S. Elefsiniotis, John Goulis, John Giannousis, Antonios Bilalis, Georgia Kafiri, Dimitrios Tzourmakliotis, Athanasios J. Archimandritis – 28 October 2008 – The diagnosis of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐negative chronic hepatitis B indicating therapeutic intervention currently requires serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA ≥2,000 IU/mL.

Wenjiao Zeng, Annette S.H. Gouw, Marius C. van den Heuvel, Peter J. Zwiers, Pieter E. Zondervan, Sibrand Poppema, Nong Zhang, Inge Platteel, Koert P. de Jong, Grietje Molema – 28 October 2008 – Quantitative data on the expression of multiple factors that control angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are limited. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying angiogenesis in HCC will improve the rational choice of anti‐angiogenic treatment.

Christopher M. Schonhoff, Krishna Thankey, Cynthia R.L. Webster, Yoshiyuki Wakabayashi, Allan W. Wolkoff, M. Sawkat Anwer – 28 October 2008 – Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) stimulates hepatic bile acid uptake by translocating sodium‐taurocholate (TC) cotransporting polypeptide (Ntcp) from an endosomal compartment to the plasma membrane. Rab4 is associated with early endosomes and involved in vesicular trafficking. This study was designed to determine the role of Rab4 in cAMP‐induced TC uptake and Ntcp translocation.

Akira Uchiyama, Jae‐Sung Kim, Kazuyoshi Kon, Hartmut Jaeschke, Kenichi Ikejima, Sumio Watanabe, John J. Lemasters – 28 October 2008 – Iron overload exacerbates various liver diseases. In hepatocytes, a portion of non‐heme iron is sequestered in lysosomes and endosomes. The precise mechanisms by which lysosomal iron participates in hepatocellular injury remain uncertain. Here, our aim was to determine the role of intracellular movement of chelatable iron in oxidative stress‐induced killing to cultured hepatocytes from C3Heb mice and Sprague‐Dawley rats.

Keun‐Gyu Park, Ae‐Kyung Min, Eun Hee Koh, Hyoun Sik Kim, Mi‐Ok Kim, Hye‐Sun Park, Yong‐Deuk Kim, Tae‐Seung Yoon, Byoung Kuk Jang, Jae Seok Hwang, Jae Bum Kim, Hueng‐Sik Choi, Joong‐Yeol Park, In‐Kyu Lee, Ki‐Up Lee – 28 October 2008 – Fatty liver is common in obese subjects with insulin resistance. Hepatic expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein‐1c (SREBP‐1c), which plays a major role in hepatic steatosis, is regulated by multiple factors, including insulin, adenosine monophosphate–activated protein kinase (AMPK), liver X receptors (LXRs), and specificity protein 1.

Marija Zeremski, Lydia M. Petrovic, Luis Chiriboga, Queenie B. Brown, Herman T. Yee, Milan Kinkhabwala, Ira M. Jacobson, Rositsa Dimova, Marianthi Markatou, Andrew H. Talal – 28 October 2008 – Chemokines, chemotactic cytokines, may promote hepatic inflammation in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection through the recruitment of lymphocytes to the liver parenchyma.

Chuan Yin, Yong Lin, Xin Zhang, Yue‐Xiang Chen, Xin Zeng, Hai‐Yan Yue, Jun‐Liang Hou, Xing Deng, Jun‐Ping Zhang, Ze‐Guang Han, Wei‐Fen Xie – 28 October 2008 – Previous studies have shown that hepatocyte nuclear factor‐4α (HNF4α) is a central regulator of differentiated hepatocyte phenotype and forced expression of HNF4α could promote reversion of tumors toward a less invasive phenotype. However, the effect of HNF4α on cancer stem cells (CSCs) and the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with HNF4α have not been reported.

Blythe D. Shepard, Rohan A. Joseph, George T. Kannarkat, Tara M. Rutledge, Dean J. Tuma, Pamela L. Tuma – 28 October 2008 – We have been using polarized, hepatic WIF‐B cells to examine ethanol‐induced liver injury. These cells polarize in culture and maintain numerous liver‐specific activities including the ability to metabolize alcohol. Previously, we found that microtubules were more highly acetylated and more stable in ethanol‐treated WIF‐B cells and that increased microtubule acetylation required ethanol metabolism and was likely mediated by acetaldehyde.

Chihiro Morishima, Timothy R. Morgan, James E. Everhart, Elizabeth C. Wright, Minjun C. Apodaca, David R. Gretch, Mitchell L. Shiffman, Gregory T. Everson, Karen L. Lindsay, William M. Lee, Anna S. F. Lok, Jules L. Dienstag, Marc G. Ghany, Teresa M. Curto, HALT‐C Trial Group – 28 October 2008 – The Siemens VERSANT® transcription‐mediated amplification (TMA) assay is extremely sensitive for the detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in serum.

Francesca Faggioli, Maria Grazia Sacco, Lucia Susani, Cristina Montagna, Paolo Vezzoni – 28 October 2008 – A large portion of hepatocytes are polyploid cells, thought to arise through endoduplication followed by aborted cytokinesis. However, several recent reports describing liver cell fusion with exogenously derived bone marrow cells have been published. The exact significance of this finding is unclear, because the adopted protocols involve ablation regimens, damaged livers and artificial injections of adult cells.