Manlio Vinciguerra, Antonino Sgroi, Christelle Veyrat‐Durebex, Laura Rubbia‐Brandt, Leo H. Buhler, Michelangelo Foti – 27 March 2009 – Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a regulator of phosphoinositide 3‐kinase signaling and an important tumor suppressor mutated/deleted in human cancers. PTEN deletion in the liver leads to insulin resistance, steatosis, inflammation, and cancer.

Wolf Peter Hofmann, Stefan Zeuzem – 27 March 2009

M. M. Spannbauer, C. Trautwein – 27 March 2009

Salvatore Petta, Calogero Cammà, Antonio Craxì – 27 March 2009

Isabelle Moreau, Elizabeth Kenny‐Walsh, Orla Crosbie, Liam J. Fanning – 27 March 2009

Samad Amini‐Bavil‐Olyaee, Ulf Herbers, Julie Sheldon, Tom Luedde, Christian Trautwein, Frank Tacke – 27 March 2009 – Tenofovir is a new effective treatment option for patients with chronic hepatitis B, but could be potentially hampered by mutations in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) polymerase conferring drug resistance. Drug resistance may occur preferentially if long‐term administration is required, for example, in patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐negative HBV infection bearing precore (PC) and basal core promoter (BCP) mutations.

Maurizia Rossana Brunetto, Francesco Moriconi, Ferruccio Bonino, George K. K.

Anna Moles, Núria Tarrats, José C. Fernández‐Checa, Montserrat Marí – 27 March 2009 – Cathepsins have been best characterized in tumorigenesis and cell death and implicated in liver fibrosis; however, whether cathepsins directly regulate hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and proliferation, hence modulating their fibrogenic potential, is largely unknown. Here, we show that expression of cathepsin B (CtsB) and cathepsin D (CtsD) is negligible in quiescent HSCs but parallels the increase of α‐smooth muscle actin and transforming growth factor‐β during in vitro mouse HSC activation.

Xiaohua Li, Kaichun Wu, Daiming Fan – 27 March 2009

Matthew Hoare, Graeme Alexander – 27 March 2009