Mark W. Russo, Roshan Shrestha – 30 August 2004

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.

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.

Joseph Locker – 30 August 2004

Vance B. Matthews, Stefan Rose‐John, George C. T. Yeoh – 30 August 2004

Raymond Reding, Hugh F.S. Davies – 30 August 2004 – Ever since the demonstration that allografts are rejected through immune reactions of the host, clinical therapies for organ allografts have relied on immune suppression to prevent these destructive events. A growing body of clinical and experimental data suggests that allografts elicit multiple, interactive immune responses. The result is not inevitably graft rejection, and “spontaneous” acceptance of fully allogeneic liver grafts occurs in rodents without immunosuppression.

Kyrsten D. Fairbanks, Paul J. Thuluvath – 30 August 2004 – The long‐term use of calcineurin inhibitors (CIs) is associated with significant morbidity in liver transplant recipients. Although mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is well tolerated, two small studies reported an unacceptable rate of acute allograft rejection in liver transplant recipients receiving MMF monotherapy. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the safety and efficacy of MMF monotherapy in liver transplant recipients. We reviewed the medical records of all patients who underwent liver transplant at our institution.

Thomas D. Boyer – 30 August 2004

Natalia A. Osna, James Haorah, Viatcheslav M. Krutik, Terrence M. Donohue – 30 August 2004 – The proteasome is an important multicatalytic enzyme complex that degrades misfolded and oxidized proteins, signal transduction factors, and antigenic peptides for presentation. We investigated the in vitro effects of peroxynitrite (PN) on the peptidase activity of both crude 20S and 26S and purified 20S proteasome preparations from rat liver as well as proteasome activity in Hep G2 cells and in mouse liver.

Akihide Kamiya, Frank J. Gonzalez – 30 August 2004 – Fetal hepatic maturation consists of multisteps and is regulated by several cytokines and cell–cell or cell–matrices interactions. In the mid‐to‐late fetal stage, hepatocytes have few metabolic functions associated with adult liver homeostasis. Cultured fetal hepatocytes acquire the expression of several mature liver‐specific genes through stimulation with hepatic maturation factor oncostatin M (OSM) and matrigel. Tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNFα) regulates fetal hepatic maturation stimulated by OSM and matrigel.