Ken Zaret – 1 March 1994 – The proto‐oncogene c‐jun is the cellular homologue of v‐jun, the transforming oncogene of the avian sarcoma virus 17. c‐jun encodes one major component of the AP‐1 transcription factor complex and is expressed in many organs during mouse development and in the adult. Because of its rapid induction in cells following growth stimulation and the presence of AP‐1 binding sites in the promoter regions of many genes, the c‐Jun protein is thought to have important functions in cell proliferation and differentiation.

1 March 1994 – Sera from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) react with enzymes of the 2‐oxo dehydrogenase pathways, particularly PDC‐E2. These enzymes are present in all nucleated cells, yet autoimmune damage is confined to biliary epithelial cells. Using a panel of eight mouse monoclonal antibodies and a human combinatorial antibody specific for PDC‐E2, we examined by indirect immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy sections of liver from patients with PBC, progressive sclerosing cholangitis, and hepatocarcinoma.

Rudolf W. Ammann, Nicolas Ilitsch, Borut Marincek, Andreas U. Freiburghaus – 1 March 1994 – The efficacy of long‐term chemotherapy in nonresectable alveolar echinococcosis is debated, particularly because of the difficulty in defining therapeutic success. In this study the effect of chemotherapy on the parasitic mass was evaluated in a series of 37 patients. The patients had larval lesions documented by serial computed tomography studies at least 1.5 yr after chemotherapy (mean = 6.4 yr, range = 1.5 to 10.7 yr).

Matthias Blumrich, Renate Pack, Franz Oesch, Ernst Petzinger, Pablo Steinberg – 1 March 1994 – Freshly isolated oval cells, which we obtained from the livers of rats fed a choline‐deficient/DL‐ethioninesupplemented diet, did not transport bile acids. Compared with freshly isolated rat hepatocytes they took up only negligible amounts of [3H]taurocholate or [14C]cholate. The cells bound small amounts of radioactive bile acids. This portion of the total cell‐associated radioactivity was enhanced on membrane permeabilization.

Matthias Wettstein, Wolfgang Gerok, Dieter Häussinger – 1 March 1994 – We used the single‐pass–perfused rat liver model to study short‐term regulation of endotoxin‐inducible nitric oxide synthesis by following the release of nitrite and nitrate, the oxidation products of nitric oxide, into the effluent perfusate. In endotoxin‐pretreated livers, the basal nitrite + nitrate release was 5.3 ± 1.2 nmol·gm liver−1·min−1. Nitrite and nitrate release was stimulated by L‐arginine in a dose‐dependent and saturable fashion.

1 March 1994

Michele Maurice, Michael J. Schell, Bernard Lardeux, Ann L. Hubbard – 1 March 1994 – B10 is an integral glycoprotein of the plasma membrane that is exclusively localized to the canalicular (apical) domain in normal rat hepatocytes but may be expressed on the basolateral (sinusoidal and lateral) membrane in pathophysiological situations. To understand how B10 may be localized to the basolateral surface, we studied the biosynthesis and transport of this apical protein.

Maria Alfonsina Desiderio, Lidia Bardella – 1 March 1994 – Activity and messenger RNA levels of spermidine/spermine N1‐acetyltransferase, the rate‐limiting enzyme of the polyamine interconversion pathway, were investigated in host liver and in Yoshida AH‐130 ascites hepatoma cells as a function of tumor growth phases. Enzyme activity reached maximal values at day 10 in host liver (2.0‐fold increase) and at days 10 and 14 in hepatoma cells (4.2‐ and 5.4‐fold increases)– that is, when the cellular growth was nearly arrested.

Yochanan Peled, Tuvia Gilat – 1 March 1994 – The formation of cholesterol gallstones is a result of an interaction between bile lipid concentration, composition and other factors. The solubilization of cholesterol in bile is affected by the nature of the fatty acids and head groups of biliary phospholipids. In this study we tried to modulate the composition of biliary lipids in the rat and hamster by means of dietary supplementation of whole phospholipids or their constituents (at 3% to 5% of food weight).

Hiroshi Suemizu, Shinichi Yoshimura, Noritoshi Takeichi, Tetsuya Moriuchi – 1 March 1994 – The Long‐Evans Cinnamon rat is a mutant strain that contracts hereditary hepatitis and, eventually, spontaneous hepatoma. Recently, abnormal copper accumulations in Long‐Evans Cinnamon rat livers were shown to be genetically linked to the development of hepatitis.