R H Peters, J H van Doorninck, P J French, R Ratcliff, M J Evans, W H Colledge, J Bijman, B J Scholte – 30 December 2003 – We have studied the physiological role of the cystic fibrosis (CF) gene product (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator [CFTR]) in gallbladder epithelium using a knockout mouse model for CF. We found that normal mouse gallbladder epithelium expresses functional CFTR as shown by reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) analysis and Ussing chamber experiments.

Alan P. Venook – 30 December 2003

Anastasios Armonis, David Patch, Andrew Burroughs – 30 December 2003

A. Okajima, K. Miyazawa, Y. Naitoh, K. Inoue, N. Kitamura – 30 December 2003 – Hepatocyte growth factor activator (HGFA) is a serine protease that is responsible for localized activation of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in injured tissue. The activated HGF may be involved in regeneration of the injured tissue. HGFA is produced and secreted by the liver and circulates in the plasma as an inactive zymogen. In response to tissue injury, the HGFA zymogen is converted to the active form by limited proteolysis.

D. Montgomery Bissell – 30 December 2003

Vivian McAlister – 30 December 2003

Walter H. Gunzburg – 30 December 2003

Michael A. Zimmerman, James F. Trotter – 30 December 2003 – Key points

Marcelo Kugelmas, Michael J. Osgood, James F. Trotter, Thomas Bak, Michael Wachs, Lisa Forman, Igal Kam, Gregory T. Everson – 30 December 2003 – We recently reported on a series of patients who experienced acute cellular rejection (ACR) during the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in our posttransplantation cohort. Our hypothesis is that HCV clearance improves hepatic microsomal function, which in turn results in lower trough cyclosporine (CyA) and tacrolimus (TAC) levels, predisposing the patient to ACR.

R. Mark Ghobrial, Ronald W. Busuttil – 30 December 2003 – Key points