Michael D. Thompson, Satdarshan P. S. Monga – 26 April 2007 – Wnt/β‐catenin signaling is emerging as a forerunner for its critical roles in many facets of human biology. Its roles in embryogenesis, organogenesis, and maintaining tissue and organ homeostasis demonstrate its munificent character. Its roles in pathological conditions such as cancer and other human disorders such as inflammatory disorders and fibrosis reveal its villainous disposition.

Shaikh Mizanoor Rahman, Jill M. Schroeder‐Gloeckler, Rachel C. Janssen, Hua Jiang, Ishtiaq Qadri, Kenneth N. Maclean, Jacob E. Friedman – 26 April 2007 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by steatosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. To investigate whether the transcription factor CCAAT/Enhancer binding protein (C/EBPβ) is involved in the development of NASH, C57BL/6J wild‐type (WT) or C/EBPβ knockout (C/EBPβ−/−) mice were fed either a methionine and choline deficient (MCD) diet or standard chow.

Jun Cai, Yang Zhao, Yanxia Liu, Fei Ye, Zhihua Song, Han Qin, Sha Meng, Yuezhou Chen, Rudan Zhou, Xijun Song, Yushan Guo, Mingxiao Ding, Hongkui Deng – 26 April 2007 – The differentiation capacity of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) holds great promise for therapeutic applications. We report a novel three‐stage method to efficiently direct the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into hepatic cells in serum‐free medium. Human ESCs were first differentiated into definitive endoderm cells by 3 days of Activin A treatment.

Veronica Bordoni, Tonino Alonzi, Lucia Zanetta, Daniele Khouri, Annarita Conti, Marco Corazzari, Francesco Bertolini, Pierluigi Antoniotti, Giuseppe Pisani, Francesca Tognoli, Elisabetta Dejana, Marco Tripodi – 26 April 2007 – Liver neo‐angiogenesis plays a fundamental role in physiological and pathological processes such as regeneration, cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis, and alcoholic liver disease. How liver parenchymal cells influence angiogenesis is largely unknown. We studied the influence of soluble factors released by hepatocytes on hematopoietic and endothelial cell differentiation.

Shin Hwang, Sung‐Gyu Lee, Deok‐Bog Moon, Chul‐Soo Ahn, Ki‐Hun Kim, Young‐Joo Lee, Tae‐Yong Ha, Gi‐Won Song – 24 April 2007 – Salvage liver transplantation has been performed for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or deterioration of liver function after primary liver resection. Because prior liver resection per se is an unfavorable condition for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), we assessed the technical feasibility of LDLT after prior hepatectomy, and we compared the outcome of salvage LDLT with that of primary LDLT in HCC patients.

Maximilian Schmeding, Ulf Peter Neumann, Gero Puhl, Marcus Bahra, Ruth Neuhaus, Peter Neuhaus – 24 April 2007 – Today, hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the leading cause for liver transplantation (LT) and viral recurrence is almost universal. It has been suggested that viral replication within the transplanted tissue might be increased in organs of reduced size such as LD grafts. In the current literature the data is controversial, with many studies lacking routine liver biopsies.

Paul J. Thuluvath, Karen L. Krok, Dorry L. Segev, Hwan Y. Yoo – 24 April 2007 – It has been suggested that the post–liver transplantation (LT) survival rate of patients with hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) has declined in recent years. To compare the outcome of LT in patients with HCV at various time intervals between 1991 and 2001, we used United Network for Organ Sharing data to compare the post‐LT survival of adult patients (age >18 years) with HCV with those without HCV.

Marco Vivarelli, Giuliano La Barba, Alessandro Cucchetti, Augusto Lauro, Massimo Del Gaudio, Matteo Ravaioli, Gian Luca Grazi, Antonio D. Pinna – 24 April 2007 – To ascertain whether postoperative antiplatelet therapy could reduce the incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) after liver transplantation (LT), 838 consecutive adult whole‐graft LTs performed from April 1986 to August 2005 that survived beyond the first postoperative month were reviewed.

Neal R. Barshes, Natasha S. Becker, W. Kenneth Washburn, Glenn A. Halff, Thomas A. Aloia, John A. Goss – 24 April 2007 – Although the Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scoring system has improved the ability to measure medical urgency for transplantation, geographic disparities in the probability of being delisted as a result of complications of end‐stage liver disease or death and in the probability of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) remain.

Isabelle Morard, Jérôme Dumortier, Laurent Spahr, Antoine Hadengue, Pietro Majno, Philippe Morel, Gilles Mentha, Emiliano Giostra – 24 April 2007 – Sirolimus (SRL) has been proposed to replace calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) in case of CNI‐induced toxicity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of conversion from CNI to SRL in maintenance liver transplantation (LT) patients. Between 2002 and 2006, conversion was performed in 48 patients (17 female, 31 male; mean age 57 ± 10 yr) after a median delay of 19.4 months (range 0.2–173 months) after LT.