Hiromitsu Nagata, Etsuro Hatano, Masaharu Tada, Miki Murata, Koji Kitamura, Hiroyuki Asechi, Masato Narita, Atsuko Yanagida, Nobuyuki Tamaki, Shintaro Yagi, Iwao Ikai, Koichi Matsuzaki, Shinji Uemoto – 28 May 2009 – Transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) signaling involves both tumor‐suppression and oncogenesis. TGF‐β activates the TGF‐β type I receptor (TβRI) and c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK), which differentially phosphorylate the mediator Smad3 to become COOH‐terminally phosphorylated Smad3 (pSmad3C) and linker‐phosphorylated Smad3 (pSmad3L).

Yi‐Ming Arthur Chen, Yi‐Jen Liao, Shih‐Ping Liu, Ting‐Fen Tsai – 28 May 2009

Patrick S. Kamath, Gregory Bologna – 28 May 2009

Kenneth J. Simpson, Caroline M. Bates, Neil C. Henderson, Stephen J. Wigmore, O. James Garden, Alistair Lee, Antony Pollok, George Masterton, Peter C. Hayes – 28 May 2009 – Liver transplantation (LT) may be life‐saving in severe acute liver failure (ALF). The aim of this study was to compare the utilization of LT in acetaminophen and non‐acetaminophen ALF. Between 1992 and 2006, 469 patients with ALF were admitted, and 104 underwent LT.

Aya Miyagawa‐Hayashino, Hiroto Egawa, Tohru Yorifuji, Makoto Hasegawa, Hironori Haga, Tatsuaki Tsuruyama, Mei‐Chin Wen, Ryo Sumazaki, Toshiaki Manabe, Shinji Uemoto – 28 May 2009 – We studied histological features and long‐term outcomes in patients with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 1 (PFIC1) after liver transplantation (LT). Histological findings were correlated with the post‐LT course and treatment in 11 recipients with PFIC1. Ages at LT varied from 1 to 18 years (median, 4 years).

Romain Parent, Xiaoyu Qu, Marie‐Anne Petit, Laura Beretta – 28 May 2009 – There is growing evidence that virus particles contain host cell proteins. These proteins may provide viruses with means to evade the immune system or with mechanisms for cell entry and release. A proteomic analysis performed on highly purified hepatitis C virus (HCV) J6/JFH virions identified the heat shock cognate protein 70 (HSC70) as part of the viral particles. These results were further validated via immunogold electron microscopy.

Anna M.G. Cali, Ana Mayra De Oliveira, Hyeonjin Kim, Shu Chen, Miguel Reyes‐Mugica, Sandra Escalera, James Dziura, Sara E. Taksali, Romy Kursawe, Melissa Shaw, Mary Savoye, Bridget Pierpont, R. Todd Constable, Sonia Caprio – 28 May 2009 – Fatty liver is increasingly common in obese adolescents. We determined its association with glucose dysregulation in 118 (37M/81F) obese adolescents of similar age and percent total fat. Fast‐magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and simple MRI were used to quantify hepatic fat content and abdominal fat distribution.

Richard S. Mangus, Jonathan A. Fridell, Rodrigo M. Vianna, Paul Y. Kwo, Paul Chestovich, Martin L. Milgrom, Marwan Kazimi, Edward F. Hollinger, Jay Thomas Read, A. Joseph Tector – 28 May 2009 – In the United States, liver allograft allocation is strictly regulated. Local centers have the first option to accept a donor liver; this is followed by regional allocation for those donor livers not used locally and then by national allocation for those donor livers not accepted regionally.

Hui‐Hui Tan, M. Isabel Fiel, Juan del Rio Martin, Thomas D. Schiano – 28 May 2009 – Liver transplant recipients are known to be at increased risk for the development of de novo neoplasms or the recurrence of preexisting malignancies, and this is possibly related to the use of immunosuppressive medication. Little is known about the effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy on graft function after transplantation. A retrospective chart and pathology database review was undertaken to identify post–liver transplant patients developing rejection during chemotherapy.

William M. Lee, Anne M. Larson, Juan Arenas – 28 May 2009