María de Luján Alvarez, María Teresa Ronco, J. Elena Ochoa, Juan A. Monti, Cristina E. Carnovale, Gerardo B. Pisani, María Cristina Lugano, María Cristina Carrillo – 13 August 2004 – In previous work we showed that interferon alfa‐2b (IFN‐α2b) increases apoptosis on rat hepatic preneoplastic foci. The aim of this study was to determine if transforming growth factor β1 (TGF‐β1) was involved in the programmed cell death on the foci.

Manuelle Viguier, Matthieu Allez, Anne‐Marie Zagdanski, Philippe Bertheau, Eric de Kerviler, Michel Rybojad, Patrice Morel, Louis Dubertret, Marc Lémann, Hervé Bachelez – 13 August 2004 – Generalized pustular psoriasis is a rare form of psoriasis that is sometimes associated with extracutaneous manifestations. Evidence for biliary involvement has been suggested in isolated cases. We investigated the prevalence and nature of liver abnormalities occurring in this disease.

Tetsuya Abe, Toshiyuki Arai, Atsushi Ogawa, Takashi Hiromatsu, Akio Masuda, Tetsuya Matsuguchi, Yuji Nimura, Yasunobu Yoshikai – 13 August 2004 – Extrahepatic cholestasis often evokes liver injury with hepatocyte apoptosis, aberrant cytokine production, and—most importantly—postoperative septic complications.

Chun‐Jen Liu, Jia‐Horng Kao, Hurng‐Yi Wang, Ming‐Yang Lai, Ting‐Chih Chen, Pei‐Jer Chen, Ding‐Shinn Chen – 13 August 2004 – Acute exacerbation (AE) of chronic hepatitis B is usually preceded by reemergence or increase of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the serum. To investigate the origin of the reemergence or increase, we compared the identity of the serum viral genome to that in the liver and in previous AE by full‐length sequencing.

Zhiping Li, Jude A. Oben, Shiqi Yang, Huizhi Lin, Elizabeth A. Stafford, Mark J. Soloski, Steven A. Thomas, Anna Mae Diehl – 13 August 2004 – It is not known why natural killer T (NKT) cells, which modulate liver injury by regulating local cytokine production, are reduced in leptin‐deficient ob/ob mice. NKT cells express adrenoceptors. Thus, we hypothesize that the low norepinephrine (NE) activity of ob/ob mice promotes depletion of liver NKT cells, thereby sensitizing ob/ob livers to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) toxicity.

Nobuyoshi Shiojiri, Yoshinori Sugiyama – 13 August 2004 – Intrahepatic biliary cell differentiation takes place in periportal hepatoblasts under the influence of the subjacent connective tissue, the mechanism of which is still unclear. This study was undertaken to analyze the immunolocalization of extracellular matrix components and their cellular receptors during mouse liver development, with special attention given to biliary differentiation and vascular development.

Carolina Boni, Barbara Amadei, Simona Urbani, Paola Fisicaro, Alessandro Zerbini, Cristina Mori, Gabriele Missale, Roberto Bertoni, Annalisa Azzurri, Gianfranco Del Prete, Carlo Ferrari – 13 August 2004 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) superinfection in chronic hepatitis C represents a natural model to investigate whether or not hepatitis C virus (HCV) can influence priming and maturation of antiviral T cells; whether or not HBV superinfection, which is known to determine control of HCV replication, can restore HCV‐specific T cell responsiveness; and whether or not cytokines stimulated by HBV infe

Diana M. Toivola, Nam‐On Ku, Evelyn Z. Resurreccion, David R. Nelson, Teresa L. Wright, M. Bishr Omary – 13 August 2004 – Keratin 8 and 18 (K8/18) phosphorylation plays a significant and site‐specific role in regulating keratin filament organization, association with binding proteins, and modulation of cell cycle progression. Keratin hyperphosphorylation correlates with exposure to a variety of stresses in cultured cells and in mouse models of liver, pancreatic, and gallbladder injury, and it is found in association with mouse and human Mallory bodies.

Atsushi Yanagitani, Sadako Yamada, Sakiko Yasui, Takashi Shimomura, Rie Murai, Yoshiyuki Murawaki, Koichi Hashiguchi, Takamasa Kanbe, Toshiya Saeki, Miho Ichiba, Yoshitada Tanabe, Yoko Yoshida, Shin‐ichi Morino, Akihiro Kurimasa, Nobumitsu Usuda, Hidetoshi Yamazaki, Takahiro Kunisada, Hisao Ito, Yoshikazu Murawaki, Goshi Shiota – 13 August 2004 – Although attention has focused on the chemopreventive action of retinoic acid (RA) in hepatocarcinogenesis, the functional role of RA in the liver has yet to be clarified.

Nektarios Dikopoulos, Petra Riedl, Reinhold Schirmbeck, Jörg Reimann – 13 August 2004 – Vaccines for the prophylactic and/or therapeutic immunization against hepatotropic pathogens (e.g., hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus) should establish long‐lasting, specific antiviral effector/memory CD8+ T cell immunity in the liver. We describe a novel peptide‐based vaccine in which antigenic major histocompatibility complex Class I–binding peptides are fused to a cationic (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus tat‐derived) domain and complexed to immune‐stimulating oligonucleotides.