Takeo Shimazaki, Masao Honda, Shuichi Kaneko, Kenichi Kobayashi – 30 December 2003 – Translation of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) polyprotein is mediated by an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) that is located within the 5′‐nontranslated region (5′NTR). We investigated the effect of interferon alfa (IFN‐α) on the IRES‐directed translation of HCV, using two stably transformed cell lines, RCF‐1 and RCF‐26, of Huh7 cells derived from human hepatocellular carcinoma that express dicistronic reporter proteins, Renilla luciferase (RL) and firefly luciferase (FL), separated by HCV‐IRES.

E. Anthony Jones, Cristina Lavini – 30 December 2003

Adrian Reuben – 30 December 2003

Harvey J. Alter – 30 December 2003

Mark A. Ross, Christina M. Sander, Talia B. Kleeb, Simon C. Watkins, Donna Beer Stolz – 30 December 2003 – Regenerating liver was evaluated for the spatiotemporal expression of angiogenic growth factor receptors on endothelial cell (EC) membranes during revascularization resulting from 70% partial hepatectomy (PHx). Fractions enriched in EC membranes were examined by Western blot for angiogenic growth factor receptor expression from 1 to 14 days after PHx.

Young S. Hahn, Carolina Soguero, Michael Cruise – 30 December 2003

Hirofumi Kawanaka, Morimasa Tomikawa, Michael K. Jones, Imre L. Szabo, Rama Pai, Dolgor Baatar, Kouji Tsugawa, Keizo Sugimachi, I. James Sarfeh, Andrzej S. Tarnawski – 30 December 2003 – Portal hypertensive (PHT) gastropathy is a frequent, serious complication of liver cirrhosis. PHT gastric mucosa has numerous abnormalities such as reduced mucosal potential differences, reduced surface oxygenation, and increased susceptibility to injury caused by alcohol, aspirin, and other noxious factors.

Rolando Hernández‐Muñoz, Mauricio Díaz‐Muñoz, Juan A. Suárez‐Cuenca, Cristina Trejo‐Solís, Verónica López, Lourdes Sánchez‐Sevilla, Lucía Yáñez, Victoria Chagoya De Sánchez – 30 December 2003 – Cirrhosis is one of the most common causes of mortality worldwide, because hepatic dysfunction constitutes a potentially lethal condition. Having demonstrated the hepatoprotective effect of adenosine against CCl4‐induced cirrhosis, the present study was aimed at assessing adenosine's effect on an already‐established micronodular cirrhosis.

Motoko Sasaki, Judy Van De Water, Thomas P. Kenny, Michael L. Gallo, Patrick S. C. Leung, Yasuni Nakanuma, Aftab A. Ansari, Ross L. Coppel, James Neuberger, M. Eric Gershwin – 30 December 2003 – The immunodominant antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) response in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is directed against the E2 component of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDC‐E2).

Shinichi Ueno, Gen Tanabe, Katsumi Sako, Takuya Hiwaki, Hirohumi Hokotate, Yoshihiko Fukukura, Yoshirou Baba, Yasushi Imamura, Takashi Aikou – 30 December 2003 – To reliably estimate the prognoses of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), both liver function and tumor‐related factors should be accounted for. However, there are few worldwide staging systems that assess prognostic value in the context of selecting individual patients for randomized stratification in therapeutic and clinical trials.