Sally Chappell, Nedim Hadzic, Robert Stockley, Tamar Guetta‐Baranes, Kevin Morgan, Noor Kalsheker – 26 December 2007 – Alpha1‐antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) due to homozygosity of the protease inhibitor (Pi) Z variant predisposes to childhood liver disease and pulmonary emphysema. About 10% of all neonates with AATD develop liver disease, and about 3% overall progress to severe disease. AATD is a principal genetic indication for liver transplantation in children.

Thomas Decaens, Cécile Godard, Aurélien de Reyniès, David S. Rickman, François Tronche, Jean‐Pierre Couty, Christine Perret, Sabine Colnot – 26 December 2007 – During hepatogenesis, after the liver has budded out of the endoderm, the hepatoblasts quickly expand and differentiate into either hepatocytes or biliary cells, the latter of which arise only within the ductal plate surrounding the portal vein.

Hiroto Egawa, Satoshi Teramukai, Hironori Haga, Minoru Tanabe, Masanori Fukushima, Motohide Shimazu – 26 December 2007 – ABO‐incompatible (ABO‐I) living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been performed in Japan to overcome the organ shortage. Reported herein are the results of this approach through March 2006 in the National Registry of the Japan Study Group for ABO‐incompatible transplantation. The questionnaires consisted of patient characteristics, operative data, and strategies for preventing antibody‐mediated rejection (AMR).

Guoyang Liao, Yue Wang, Jinhai Chang, Tao Bian, Wenjie Tan, Mingbo Sun, Weidong Li, Huijuan Yang, Junying Chen, Xinwen Zhang, Shengli Bi, Masao Omata, Shude Jiang – 26 December 2007 – DNA immunization has been used to induce either humoral or cellular immune responses against many antigens, including hepatitis C virus (HCV). In addition, DNA immunizations can be enhanced or modulated at the nucleotide level.

Qiang Cui, Wei Jiang, Yingxin Wang, Chen Lv, Jingjing Luo, Wei Zhang, Fang Lin, Yuexiang Yin, Rong Cai, Ping Wei, Cheng Qian – 26 December 2007 – The constitutive activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) participates in carcinogenesis through up‐regulation of genes encoding apoptosis inhibitors and cell cycle regulators, such as Bcl‐xL, cyclins D1 and D2, and c‐myc. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is one of the negative regulators of cytokine signaling and is frequently silenced in diverse cancers.

Ramesh Roop Rai, Pankaj Jain – 26 December 2007

Michael Kremer, Ashley W. Perry, Richard J. Milton, Richard A. Rippe, Michael D. Wheeler, Ian N. Hines – 26 December 2007 – Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) promotes hepatocellular apoptosis and suppresses hepatic lymphocyte responses in part through activation of Smad3. The purpose of the current study was to determine the importance of Smad3 signaling in an experimental model of autoimmune hepatitis induced by concanavalin A (ConA), a process involving T cell activation and hepatocellular apoptosis.

Alessandra Mangia, Nicola Minerva, Donato Bacca, Raffaele Cozzolongo, Giovanni L. Ricci, Vito Carretta, Francesco Vinelli, Gaetano Scotto, Giuseppe Montalto, Mario Romano, Giuseppe Cristofaro, Leonardo Mottola, Fulvio Spirito, Angelo Andriulli – 26 December 2007 – It was hypothesized that in hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 patients, variable treatment duration individualized by first undetectable HCV RNA is as effective as standard 48‐week treatment.

Alejandro Forner, Ramón Vilana, Carmen Ayuso, Lluís Bianchi, Manel Solé, Juan Ramón Ayuso, Loreto Boix, Margarita Sala, María Varela, Josep M Llovet, Concepció Brú, Jordi Bruix – 26 December 2007 – This study prospectively evaluates the accuracy of contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the diagnosis of nodules 20 mm or smaller detected during ultrasound (US) surveillance.

Yuan Zhai, Xiu‐Da Shen, Feng Gao, Alice Zhao, Maria Cecilia Freitas, Charles Lassman, Andrew D. Luster, Ronald W. Busuttil, Jerzy W. Kupiec‐Weglinski – 26 December 2007 – We have shown that activation of toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) and its interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3)‐dependent downstream signaling pathway are required for the development of liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). This study focused on the role of TLR4‐IRF3 activation pathway products, in particular, chemokine (C‐X‐C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10).