Ande Satyanarayana, Michael P. Manns, K. Lenhard Rudolph – 13 August 2004 – Telomere shortening limits the proliferative capacity of primary human cells and restrains the regenerative capacity of organ systems during chronic diseases and aging. Telomere shortening apparently has a dual role in tumor development and progression. On the one hand, it induces chromosomal instability and the initiation of cancer; on the other hand, tumor progression requires stabilization of telomeres.

Man‐Fung Yuen, Danny Ka‐Ho Wong, Ching‐Lung Lai – 13 August 2004

Neil Kaplowitz – 13 August 2004

Hermann E. Wasmuth, Alexa Werth, Tobias Mueller, Thomas Berg, Christoph G. Dietrich, Andreas Geier, Carsten Gartung, Johann Lorenzen, Siegfried Matern, Frank Lammert – 13 August 2004 – The response to antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is complex and is determined by both environmental and genetic factors. Recently, interacting gene polymorphisms of the chemokine RANTES have been shown to affect HIV disease progression. Our aim was to assess if these RANTES variants are associated with response to anti‐HCV therapy.

Raoul Poupon – 13 August 2004

Laszlo Romics, Karen Kodys, Angela Dolganiuc, Lucia Graham, Arumugam Velayudham, Pranoti Mandrekar, Gyongyi Szabo – 13 August 2004 – Fatty liver is highly sensitive to inflammatory activation. Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptors (PPAR) have anti‐inflammatory effects and regulate lipid metabolism in the fatty liver. We hypothesized that fatty liver leads to endotoxin sensitivity through an imbalance between pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory signals.

Cheng Ji, Qinggao Deng, Neil Kaplowitz – 13 August 2004 – We previously reported a link between ethanol‐induced elevation of homocysteine, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and alcoholic liver injury in the murine model of intragastric ethanol feeding. We studied the role of TNFα in this setting by using TNFR1 knockout mice (C57 BL/6). There was a 7.4‐fold increase of homocysteine in wild‐type and a 6‐fold increase in TNFR1 knockout mice with intragastric alcohol exposure for 4 weeks. Plasma TNFα increased in the wild‐type (18.4 ± 3.3 pg/mL vs.

Martin Rössle, Kevin D. Mullen – 13 August 2004

Weizheng W. Wang, Darcey L. H. Smith, Stephen D. Zucker – 13 August 2004 – The inducible isoform of heme oxygenase (HO), HO‐1, has been shown to play an important role in attenuating tissue injury. Because HO‐1 catalyzes the rate‐limiting step in bilirubin synthesis, we examined the hypothesis that bilirubin is a key mediator of HO‐1 cytoprotection, employing a rat model of endotoxemia. Bilirubin treatment resulted in improved survival and attenuated liver injury in response to lipopolysaccharide infusion.

Jay H. Hoofnagle – 13 August 2004