Lin Wang, Chun‐Mei Wang, Li‐Hong Hou, Guo‐Rui Dou, Yao‐Chun Wang, Xing‐Bin Hu, Fei He, Fan Feng, Hong‐Wei Zhang, Ying‐Min Liang, Ke‐Feng Dou, Hua Han – 28 December 2008 – Liver sinusoid (LS) endothelial cells (LSECs) support hepatocytes in resting livers and proliferate during liver regeneration to revascularize regenerated liver parenchyma. We report that recombination signal‐binding protein‐Jκ (RBP‐J), the critical transcription factor mediating Notch signaling, regulates both resting and regenerating LSECs.

Lopa Mishra, Tanuj Banker, Joseph Murray, Stephen Byers, Arun Thenappan, Aiwu Ruth He, Kirti Shetty, Lynt Johnson, E. P. Reddy – 28 December 2008 – Although the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) was first proposed over 40 years ago, only in the past decade have these cells been identified in hematological malignancies, and more recently in solid tumors that include liver, breast, prostate, brain, and colon. Constant proliferation of stem cells is a vital component in liver tissues.

Tsunehiro Shintani, Takuya Iwabuchi, Tomoyoshi Soga, Yuichiro Kato, Takehiro Yamamoto, Naoharu Takano, Takako Hishiki, Yuki Ueno, Satsuki Ikeda, Tadayuki Sakuragawa, Kazuo Ishikawa, Nobuhito Goda, Yuko Kitagawa, Mayumi Kajimura, Kenji Matsumoto, Makoto Suematsu – 28 December 2008 – Carbon monoxide (CO) is a stress‐inducible gas generated by heme oxygenase (HO) eliciting adaptive responses against toxicants; however, mechanisms for its reception remain unknown.

Muhammad A. Sohail, Ardeshir Z. Hashmi, Wyel Hakim, Azuma Watanabe, Alexander Zipprich, Roberto J. Groszmann, Jonathan A. Dranoff, Natalie J. Torok, Wajahat Z. Mehal – 28 December 2008 – The Rho/ROCK pathway is activated in differentiated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and is necessary for assembly of actin stress fibers, contractility, and chemotaxis. Despite the importance of this pathway in HSC biology, physiological inhibitors of the Rho/ROCK pathway in HSCs are not known.

Arnaud Galbois, Dominique Thabut, Khalid A. Tazi, Marika Rudler, Morvarid Shir Mohammadi, Dominique Bonnefont‐Rousselot, Hind Bennani, Annie Bezeaud, Zera Tellier, Cécile Guichard, Nicolas Coant, Eric Ogier‐Denis, Richard Moreau, Didier Lebrec – 28 December 2008 – High‐density lipoproteins (HDL) are known to neutralize lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Because patients with cirrhosis have lower HDL levels, this may contribute to LPS‐induced ex vivo monocyte overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines.

Vijay Shah – 28 December 2008

Ann‐Sofi Duberg, Rolf Hultcrantz – 28 December 2008

Coralie Pallier, Christophe Rodriguez, Rozenn Brillet, Patrice Nordmann, Christophe Hézode, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky – 28 December 2008 – In patients with hepatitis B e antigen‐negative chronic hepatitis B, adefovir dipivoxil administration selects variants bearing reverse transcriptase rtN236T and/or rtA181V/T substitutions in 29% of cases after 5 years.

J. Ignacio Herrero, Jose Ignacio Bilbao, Maria Lourdes Diaz, Felix Alegre, Mercedes Inarrairaegui, Fernando Pardo, Jorge Quiroga – 24 December 2008

Anna R. Hemnes, Ivan M. Robbins – 24 December 2008 – Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH), or pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with cirrhosis, carries a high mortality and often precludes liver transplantation. Many POPH patients have preserved or increased cardiac output; therefore, decreasing pulmonary artery pressure rather than improving cardiac output is more important in reducing liver transplant risk, and this makes sildenafil an attractive therapeutic option. We assessed the clinical response of patients with POPH treated with sildenafil monotherapy.