Johannes Herkel, Birgit Heidrich, Nicole Nieraad, Ingrid Wies, Michael Rother, Ansgar W. Lohse – 30 December 2003 – Autoantibodies to soluble liver antigen and liver pancreas (SLA/LP) have been described as specific markers for Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH), occurring in about 20% of patients with AIH. The high degree of specificity for SLA/LP in autoimmune liver disease suggests a possible role in its pathogenesis. This study aims to map the exact epitope(s) recognized by SLA/LP autoantibodies and to assess the role of molecular mimicry between microbial antigens and self‐epitopes.

Aaron Ciechanover, Alan L. Schwartz – 30 December 2003

Christophe Corpechot, Raoul Poupon – 30 December 2003

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.