Natsumi Watanabe, Minoru Tanaka, Kaori Suzuki, Atsushi Kumanogoh, Hitoshi Kikutani, Atsushi Miyajima – 26 April 2007 – Liver development is regulated by various extracellular molecules such as cytokines and cell surface proteins. Although several such regulators have been identified, additional molecules are likely to be involved in liver development. To identify such molecules, we employed the signal sequence trap (SST) method to screen cDNAs encoding a secreted or membrane protein from fetal liver and obtained a number of clones.

Ralf Weiskirchen, Steffen K. Meurer – 26 April 2007

José M. Mato, Shelly C. Lu – 26 April 2007 – S‐Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) has rapidly moved from being a methyl donor to a key metabolite that regulates hepatocyte growth, death, and differentiation. Biosynthesis of SAMe occurs in all mammalian cells as the first step in methionine catabolism in a reaction catalyzed by methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT). Decreased hepatic SAMe biosynthesis is a consequence of all forms of chronic liver injury.

Valerio Pazienza, Sophie Clément, Paolo Pugnale, Stéphanie Conzelman, Michelangelo Foti, Alessandra Mangia, Francesco Negro – 26 April 2007 – Both molecular and clinical evidence support a link between HCV infection and insulin resistance. We examined the in vitro interaction between the HCV core protein of genotypes 3a and 1b with the insulin‐signaling pathway.

Christoph F. Dietrich, Joachim C. Mertens, Barbara Braden, Gudrun Schuessler, Michaela Ott, Andre Ignee – 26 April 2007 – Differentiation of small and atypical hemangiomas from other hepatic masses using imaging methods can be difficult, especially in patients with underlying malignant disease. Therefore, contrast‐enhanced ultrasound was assessed in patients with histologically confirmed hemangiomas with respect to contrast‐enhancing kinetics and tumor characteristics.

Frédéric Le Gal, Corinne Castelneau, Elyanne Gault, Nasser al Hawajri, Emmanuel Gordien, Patrick Marcellin, Paul Dény – 26 April 2007

C. Bart Rountree, Xuli Wang, Shundi Ge, Lora Barsky, Judy Zhu, Ignacio Gonzales, Gay M. Crooks – 26 April 2007 – Recent reports have provided conflicting conclusions regarding the role for bone marrow (BM)–derived cells in the regeneration of liver. Our aim was to investigate the potential of BM to contribute to liver epithelium using different BM transplant models designed to explore differentiation during normal liver development and regeneration after toxic injury.

Fiona J. Warner – 26 April 2007

Roberto Gambino, Maurizio Cassader, Gianfranco Pagano, Marilena Durazzo, Giovanni Musso – 26 April 2007 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is emerging as an independent cardiovascular risk factor, but mechanism(s) linking fatty liver to atherosclerosis are unknown. Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) −493 G/T polymorphism modulates circulating lipid and lipoprotein levels in different subsets and has been linked to NAFLD.

Youngmi Jung, Shannon J. McCall, Yin‐Xiong Li, Anna Mae Diehl – 26 April 2007 – Indian Hedgehog (Ihh) regulates tissue morphogenesis. Hedgehog (Hh) activity has been demonstrated in human cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma lines, and in myofibroblasts and progenitors from adult rodent livers. We evaluated Hh pathway involvement in the response to biliary injury in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Liver sections from 3 PBC patients and 3 controls without liver disease were studied.