Salman R. Khetani, Greg Szulgit, Jo A. Del Rio, Carrolee Barlow, Sangeeta N. Bhatia – 30 August 2004 – Cocultivation of primary hepatocytes with a plethora of nonparenchymal cells (from within and outside the liver) has been shown to support hepatic functions in vitro. Despite significant investigation into this phenomenon, the molecular mechanism underlying epithelial–nonparenchymal interactions in hepatocyte cocultures remains poorly understood.

Ahmed A. Darwish, Etienne Sokal, Xavier Stephenne, Mustapha Najimi, Jean de Ville de Goyet, Raymond Reding – 30 August 2004 – A novel application of the implantable Port‐a‐Cath (PAC) system is described in the context of cellular transplantation. A silicone catheter was inserted in a collateral branch of the portal vein and connected to a port device positioned subcutaneously on the left thoracic cage. This permanent vascular access allowed iterative intraportal infusions of allogenic hepatocytes without the need of repeated transhepatic catheterization of the portal vein.

Mark W. Russo, Roshan Shrestha – 30 August 2004

Elwyn Elias – 30 August 2004 – In accordance with increasing demands for evidence‐based practice for ethical, fiscal, and medico‐legal reasons HEPATOLOGY provides a rich source of material that can justly guide the hepatologist's day‐to‐day clinical activity. The first four articles highlighted below constitute such confidence building data.

Ching‐Lung Lai, Seng Gee Lim, Nathaniel A. Brown, Xiao‐Jian Zhou, Deborah M. Lloyd, Yin‐Mei Lee, Man‐Fung Yuen, George C. Chao, Maureen W. Myers – 30 August 2004 – Current therapy for chronic hepatitis B is suboptimal as a result of limited durable response rates, cumulative viral resistance, and/or poor tolerability. Telbivudine has potent antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vitro and in the woodchuck model and has a promising preclinical safety profile.

Daniel Rost, Gerda Rudolph, Petra Kloeters‐Plachky, Adolf Stiehl – 30 August 2004 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has beneficial effects in cholestatic liver diseases. In primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), there is evidence that high doses (±20 mg/kg) of UDCA may be more effective than average doses. Biliary enrichment of UDCA at such high doses may represent the decisive factor for its beneficial effect.

Melissa M. Goggin, Christopher J. Nelsen, Scot R. Kimball, Leonard S. Jefferson, Simon J. Morley, Jeffrey H. Albrecht – 30 August 2004 – Following acute injuries that diminish functional liver mass, the remaining hepatocytes substantially increase overall protein synthesis to meet increased metabolic demands and to allow for compensatory liver growth. Previous studies have not clearly defined the mechanisms that promote protein synthesis in the regenerating liver.

Asahiro Morishita, Tsutomu Masaki, Hitoshi Yoshiji, Seiji Nakai, Tomohiro Ogi, Yoshiaki Miyauchi, Shuhei Yoshida, Toshiharu Funaki, Naohito Uchida, Yuko Kita, Fumi Funakoshi, Hisashi Usuki, Setsuo Okada, Kunihiko Izuishi, Seishiro Watanabe, Kazutaka Kurokohchi, Shigeki Kuriyama – 30 August 2004 – Cyclins, cyclin‐dependent kinases (Cdks), and Cdk inhibitors (CdkIs) are frequently altered in human cancer. p18INK4C, a member of the INK4 family of CdkIs, is a potential tumor‐suppressor gene product. However, the expression of p18INK4C in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown.

Darrell Crawford, Linda Fletcher – 30 August 2004

Andres T. Blei – 30 August 2004