Jason Grebely, Brian Conway, Jesse D. Raffa, Calvin Lai, Mel Krajden, Mark W. Tyndall – 26 April 2007

Anice Moumen, Alessandro Ieraci, Salvatore Patané, Carme Solé, Joan X. Comella, Rosanna Dono, Flavio Maina – 26 April 2007 – The FasL‐Fas couple is a general death mediator whose activated signals lead to caspase‐8 activation and apoptosis in adult hepatocytes. Suppression of caspase‐8 activation and cell death is a protective mechanism modulated by the FLICE‐Like Inhibitory Protein (FLIP). Although hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor Met are known to mediate cell survival in developing livers, the molecular mechanisms involved in this process are poorly understood.

Juan Castro, Ludwig Amigo, Juan Francisco Miquel, Cecilia Gälman, Fernando Crovari, Alejandro Raddatz, Silvana Zanlungo, Roberto Jalil, Mats Rudling, Flavio Nervi – 26 April 2007 – A strong interrelationship exists between the regulation of bile acid (BA) metabolism and hepatic very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) production. We have recently shown that BA synthesis is increased in gallstone disease.

Chun‐Ming Wong, Yeung‐Lam Ng, Joyce Man‐Fong Lee, Carmen Chak‐Lui Wong, Oi‐Fung Cheung, Chung‐Yiu Chan, Edmund Kwok‐Kwan Tung, Yick‐Pang Ching, Irene Oi‐Lin Ng – 26 April 2007 – In HCC, inactivation of tumor suppressor genes plays a significant role in carcinogenesis. Apart from deletions and mutations, growing evidence has indicated that epigenetic alterations including aberrant promoter methylation and histone deacetylation are also implicated in inactivation of tumor suppressor genes.

Chih‐Lin Lin, Li‐Ying Liao, Chun‐Jen Liu, Ming‐Whei Yu, Pei‐Jer Chen, Ming‐Yang Lai, Ding‐Shinn Chen, Jia‐Horng Kao – 26 April 2007 – Chronic hepatitis B patients with high‐normal serum ALT (levels of 0.5‐1× upper limit of normal) are still at risk of liver disease progression. We thus investigated the correlation between serum ALT level and hepatitis B viral factors in HBeAg‐negative carriers with persistently normal serum ALT level (PNALT).

Silvina Laura Malmassari, Qiang Deng, Hélène Fontaine, Dianne Houitte, François Rimlinger, Valérie Thiers, Bernard Maillere, Stanislas Pol, Marie‐Louise Michel – 26 April 2007 – The hepatitis B X (HBx) protein is a crucial component in HBV infection in vivo and has been implicated in HCC. In this study, we aimed to detect and characterize peripheral HBx‐specific T cells in chronically infected patients at the inactive carrier state of the disease.

Youngmi Jung, Shannon J. McCall, Yin‐Xiong Li, Anna Mae Diehl – 26 April 2007 – Indian Hedgehog (Ihh) regulates tissue morphogenesis. Hedgehog (Hh) activity has been demonstrated in human cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma lines, and in myofibroblasts and progenitors from adult rodent livers. We evaluated Hh pathway involvement in the response to biliary injury in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Liver sections from 3 PBC patients and 3 controls without liver disease were studied.

Roberto Gambino, Maurizio Cassader, Gianfranco Pagano, Marilena Durazzo, Giovanni Musso – 26 April 2007 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is emerging as an independent cardiovascular risk factor, but mechanism(s) linking fatty liver to atherosclerosis are unknown. Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) −493 G/T polymorphism modulates circulating lipid and lipoprotein levels in different subsets and has been linked to NAFLD.

Fiona J. Warner – 26 April 2007

C. Bart Rountree, Xuli Wang, Shundi Ge, Lora Barsky, Judy Zhu, Ignacio Gonzales, Gay M. Crooks – 26 April 2007 – Recent reports have provided conflicting conclusions regarding the role for bone marrow (BM)–derived cells in the regeneration of liver. Our aim was to investigate the potential of BM to contribute to liver epithelium using different BM transplant models designed to explore differentiation during normal liver development and regeneration after toxic injury.