Richard A. Marlar – 27 July 2007

Inmaculada García‐Ruiz, Cristina Rodríguez‐Juan, Teresa Díaz‐Sanjuán, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Teresa Muñoz‐Yagüe, José A. Solís‐Herruzo – 27 July 2007 – Insulin resistance is present in almost all patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD), and mitochondrial dysfunction likely plays a critical role in the progression of fatty liver into nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Rosiglitazone, a selective ligand of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), is an insulin sensitizer drug that has been used in a number of insulin‐resistant conditions, including NAFLD.

Etonia Y‐T. Pang, Alfa H‐C. Bai, Ka‐Fai To, Shirley M‐H. Sy, Navy L‐Y. Wong, Paul B‐S. Lai, Jeremy A. Squire, Nathalie Wong – 27 July 2007 – Metastasis is a major cause of cancer morbidity and mortality in individuals with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), yet little is known about the underlying molecular basis. Using genetic information derived from chromosome‐based comparative genomic hybridization, we have reported previously on regional chromosome 7q21‐q22 gains in close association with HCC progression.

Monica Miozzo, Carlo Selmi, Barbara Gentilin, Francesca R. Grati, Silvia Sirchia, Sabine Oertelt, Massimo Zuin, M. Eric Gershwin, Mauro Podda, Pietro Invernizzi – 27 July 2007 – Recent work has demonstrated enhanced X monosomy in women with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) as well as two other female‐predominant autoimmune diseases, systemic sclerosis and autoimmune thyroid disease.

Mitchell L. Shiffman, Jennifer Salvatore, Sarah Hubbard, Angie Price, Richard K. Sterling, R. Todd Stravitz, Velimir A. Luketic, Arun J. Sanyal – 27 July 2007 – Successful treatment of chronic HCV with peginterferon (PEGIFN) and ribavirin (RVN) is often limited by anemia. We performed the present study to determine if utilizing epoetin alpha (EPO) with or without a higher dose of RVN could enhance sustained virologic response (SVR).

Omar Cauli, Regina Rodrigo, Blanca Piedrafita, Jordi Boix, Vicente Felipo – 27 July 2007 – One of the neurological alterations in patients with minimal or overt hepatic encephalopathy is cognitive impairment. This impairment is reproduced in rats with chronic liver failure due to portacaval shunt (PCS). These rats show decreased ability to learn a conditional discrimination task in a Y‐maze, likely due to reduced function of the glutamate–nitric oxide (NO)–cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in brain.

Hong‐Lei Weng, Loredana Ciuclan, Yan Liu, Jafar Hamzavi, Patricio Godoy, Haristi Gaitantzi, Stefan Kanzler, Rainer Heuchel, Uwe Ueberham, Rolf Gebhardt, Katja Breitkopf, Steven Dooley – 26 July 2007 – Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is important for transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β)–induced liver fibrogenesis. Hepatic stellate cells have been recognized as its major cellular source in the liver. Here we demonstrate the induction of CTGF expression in hepatocytes of damaged livers and identify a molecular mechanism responsible for it.

Benoît Rousseau, Ludovic Ménard, Valérie Haurie, Danièle Taras, Jean‐Frédéric Blanc, François Moreau‐Gaudry, Philippe Metzler, Michel Hugues, Sandrine Boyault, Sylvie Lemière, Xavier Canron, Pierre Costet, Michael Cole, Charles Balabaud, Paulette Bioulac‐Sage, Jessica Zucman‐Rossi, Jean Rosenbaum – 26 July 2007 – Using a proteomic analysis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we identified the overexpression in 4 tumors of RuvB‐like 2 (RUVBL2), an ATPase and putative DNA helicase known to interact with β‐catenin and cellular v‐myc myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (c‐myc).

Katja Derkow, Christoph Loddenkemper, Justine Mintern, Nils Kruse, Katja Klugewitz, Thomas Berg, Bertram Wiedenmann, Hidde L. Ploegh, Eckart Schott – 26 July 2007 – The pathogenesis of autoimmune liver diseases is poorly understood. Animal models are necessary to investigate antigen presentation and priming of T‐cells in the context of autoimmunity in the liver. Transgenic mouse models were generated in which the model antigen ovalbumin is expressed in hepatocytes (TF‐OVA) or cholangiocytes (ASBT‐OVA).

Yen‐Shen Lu, Yoko Kashida, Samuel K. Kulp, Yu‐Chieh Wang, Dasheng Wang, Jui‐Hsiang Hung, Monica Tang, Zhong‐Zhe Lin, Te‐Jung Chen, Ann‐Lii Cheng, Ching‐Shih Chen – 25 July 2007 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, yet effective therapeutic options for advanced HCC are limited. This study was aimed at assessing the antitumor effect of a novel phenylbutyrate‐derived histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, OSU‐HDAC42, vis‐à‐vis suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), in in vitro and in vivo models of human HCC.