D. Hunter Best, William B. Coleman – 29 October 2007 – Liver regeneration after surgical partial hepatectomy (PH) in retrorsine‐exposed rats is accomplished through the outgrowth and expansion of small hepatocyte‐like progenitor cells (SHPCs). The cells of origin for SHPCs and their tissue niche have not been identified. Nevertheless, some investigators have suggested that SHPCs may represent an intermediate or transitional cell type between oval cells and mature hepatocytes, rather than a distinct progenitor cell population.

Naoto Matsuzawa, Toshinari Takamura, Seiichiro Kurita, Hirofumi Misu, Tsuguhito Ota, Hitoshi Ando, Masayoshi Yokoyama, Masao Honda, Yoh Zen, Yasuni Nakanuma, Ken‐ichi Miyamoto, Shuichi Kaneko – 29 October 2007 – Recently, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) was found to be correlated with cardiovascular disease events independently of the metabolic syndrome.

Xandra Volkmann, Ute Fischer, Matthias J. Bahr, Michael Ott, Frank Lehner, Marion MacFarlane, Gerald M. Cohen, Michael P. Manns, Klaus Schulze‐Osthoff, Heike Bantel – 29 October 2007 – Tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces apoptosis in tumor cells but not in most normal cells and has therefore been proposed as a promising antitumor agent. Recent experiments suggested that isolated primary human hepatocytes but not monkey liver cells are susceptible to certain TRAIL agonists, raising concerns about the use of TRAIL in cancer treatment.

J. Judy Chang, Alexander J. V. Thompson, Kumar Visvanathan, Stephen J. Kent, Paul U. Cameron, Fiona Wightman, Paul Desmond, Stephen A. Locarnini, Sharon R. Lewin – 29 October 2007 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐specific T cells play a key role in clearance of the virus and in the pathogenesis of liver disease. Peripheral blood (n = 25) and liver biopsies (n = 19) were collected from individuals with chronic untreated HBV infection.

Anastasios Koulaouzidis, Elmuhtady Said, Anthia Gatopoulou, John Moschos – 29 October 2007

Karen L. Swanson – 29 October 2007

M. Susan Mandell, Tamara J. Stoner, Rebecca Barnett, Abraham Shaked, Mark Bellamy, Gianni Biancofiore, Claus Niemann, Ann Walia, Youri Vater, Zung V. Tran, Igal Kam – 29 October 2007 – Small single‐institutional studies performed prior to the introduction of organ allocation using the Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) suggest that early airway extubation of liver transplant recipients is a safe practice. We designed a multicenter study to examine adverse events associated with early extubation in patients selected for liver transplantation using MELD score.

Nicholas A. Shackel, Geoffrey W. McCaughan – 29 October 2007

Lorri A. Morford, Christina Davis, Lin Jin, Aneta Dobierzewska, Martha L. Peterson, Brett T. Spear – 29 October 2007 – The Glypican 3 (Gpc3) gene is expressed abundantly in the fetal liver, is inactive in the normal adult liver, and is frequently reactivated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This reactivation in HCC has led to considerable interest in Gpc3 as a diagnostic tumor marker and its possible role in tumorigenesis. Despite this interest, the basis for Gpc3 regulation is poorly understood.

Jose Castellote – 29 October 2007