Yu‐Chi Chou, Mong‐Liang Chen, Cheng‐Po Hu, Ya‐Ling Chen, Chin‐Liew Chong, Yue‐Lin Tsai, Tzu‐Ling Liu, King‐Song Jeng, Chungming Chang – 24 August 2007 – Transforming growth factor–beta1 (TGF‐β1) is a pleiotropic cytokine with pivotal roles in the regulation of cellular functions and immune responses. In this study, we found that TGF‐β1 was able to effectively suppress hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. In the presence of TGF‐β1, the level of viral replicative intermediates was dramatically decreased, both in actively dividing cells and in confluent cells.

Yongyan Chen, Haiming Wei, Rui Sun, Zhongjun Dong, Jian Zhang, Zhigang Tian – 24 August 2007 – The innate immunopathogenesis responsible for the susceptibility to hepatocyte injury in chronic hepatitis B surface antigen carriers is not well defined. In this study, hepatitis B virus (HBV) transgenic mice (named HBs‐Tg) were oversensitive to liver injury after immunologic [polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid or concanavalin A (ConA)] or chemical (CCl4) triggering.

Paulette Bioulac‐Sage, Sandra Rebouissou, Cristel Thomas, Jean‐Frédéric Blanc, Jean Saric, Antonio Sa Cunha, Anne Rullier, Gaëlle Cubel, Gabrielle Couchy, Sandrine Imbeaud, Charles Balabaud, Jessica Zucman‐Rossi – 24 August 2007 – Hepatocellular adenomas (HCA) with activated β‐catenin present a high risk of malignant transformation. To permit robust routine diagnosis to allow for HCA subtype classification, we searched new useful markers.

Tatjana Stojakovic, Csilla Putz‐Bankuti, Günter Fauler, Hubert Scharnagl, Martin Wagner, Vanessa Stadlbauer, Gerald Gurakuqi, Rudolf E. Stauber, Winfried März, Michael Trauner – 24 August 2007 – Statin therapy may target both hypercholesterolemia and cholestasis in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). However, little is known about the efficacy and safety of statins in PBC.

Stephan Singer, Volker Ehemann, Antje Brauckhoff, Martina Keith, Sebastian Vreden, Peter Schirmacher, Kai Breuhahn – 24 August 2007 – The microtubule (MT)‐destabilizing protein stathmin/Op18 has previously been described to be negatively regulated by p53 and to be highly expressed in several tumor entities. However, little is known about its expression profile, functional or therapeutic relevance, and regulation in human hepatocarcinogenesis.

17 August 2007

Lee‐Jun C. Wong, Nicola Brunetti‐Pierri, Qing Zhang, Nada Yazigi, Kevin E. Bove, Beverly B. Dahms, Michelle A. Puchowicz, Ignacio Gonzalez‐Gomez, Eric S. Schmitt, Cavatina K. Truong, Charles L. Hoppel, Ping‐Chieh Chou, Jing Wang, Erin E. Baldwin, Darius Adams, Nancy Leslie, Richard G. Boles, Douglas S. Kerr, William J. Craigen – 10 August 2007 – MPV17 is a mitochondrial inner membrane protein of unknown function recently recognized as responsible for a mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome.

Hannah Jackson, Masoud Solaymani‐Dodaran, Tim R. Card, Guruprasad P. Aithal, Richard Logan, Joe West – 8 August 2007 – There is debate over the mortality and malignancy risk in people with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and whether this risk is reduced by use of ursodeoxycholic acid. To investigate this issue, we identified 930 people with PBC and 9,202 control subjects from the General Practice Research Database in the United Kingdom. We categorized regular ursodeoxycholic acid as treatment with 6 or more prescriptions and nonregular treatment as less than 6.

Sammy Saab, Mamie H. Dong, Tom A. Joseph, Myron J. Tong – 6 August 2007 – Hepatitis B reactivation is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing chemotherapy for lymphomas. These patients may experience direct liver‐related complications or reduced cancer survival because of interruptions in chemotherapy. Our aim was to compare the costs and outcomes of 2 different chronic hepatitis B management strategies.

Tove Berg, C. Bart Rountree, Lily Lee, Joaquin Estrada, Fréderic G. Sala, Andrea Choe, Jacqueline M. Veltmaat, Stijn De Langhe, Rene Lee, Hide Tsukamoto, Gay M. Crooks, Saverio Bellusci, Kasper S. Wang – 1 August 2007 – Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling and β‐catenin activation have been shown to be crucial for early embryonic liver development. This study determined the significance of FGF10‐mediated signaling in a murine embryonic liver progenitor cell population as well as its relation to β‐catenin activation.