Boris Blechacz, Patrick L. Splinter, Suzanne Greiner, Rae Myers, Kah‐Whye Peng, Mark J. Federspiel, Stephen J. Russell, Nicholas F. LaRusso – 28 November 2006 – The oncolytic measles virus Edmonston strain (MV‐Edm), a nonpathogenic virus targeting cells expressing abundant CD46, selectively destroys neoplastic tissue. Clinical development of MV‐Edm would benefit from noninvasive monitoring strategies to determine the speed and extent of the spread of the virus in treated patients and the location of virus‐infected cells.

Hanh‐Tu Lieu, Marie‐Thérèse Simon, Thao Nguyen‐Khoa, Messeret Kebede, Alexandre Cortes, Luis Tebar, Andrew J. H. Smith, Rosemary Bayne, Stephen P. Hunt, Christian Bréchot, Laurence Christa – 28 November 2006 – Reg2/RegIIIβ is the murine homologue of the human secreted HIP/PAP C‐type lectin. HIP/PAP transgenic mice were protected against acetaminophen‐induced acute liver failure and were stimulated to regenerate post‐hepatectomy. To assess the role of Reg2, we used Reg2−/− mice in a model of fulminant hepatitis induced by Fas and in the post‐hepatectomy regeneration.

Myriam Vilasco, Esther Larrea, Damien Vitour, Stephanie Dabo, Adrien Breiman, Béatrice Regnault, Jose‐Ignacio Riezu, Pierre Eid, Jesus Prieto, Eliane F. Meurs – 28 November 2006 – During a viral infection, binding of viral double‐stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) to the cytosolic RNA helicase RIG‐1 leads to recruitment of the mitochondria‐associated Cardif protein, involved in activation of the IRF3‐phosphorylating IKKε/TBK1 kinases, interferon (IFN) induction, and development of the innate immune response.

Natalia Nieto – 28 November 2006 – The impact of Kupffer cells (KCs) on the hepatic stellate cell (HSC) fibrogenic response was examined in an in vitro coculture model of primary KCs and HSCs. Coculture with KCs induced a more activated phenotype and greater proliferation compared to HSC cultured alone. Similar results were obtained on Matrigel which maintains HSCs quiescent.

Qiang You, Linling Cheng, Timothy P. Reilly, Dale Wegmann, Cynthia Ju – 28 November 2006 – Drug‐induced liver injury (DILI) is a major safety concern in drug development. Its prediction and prevention have been hindered by limited knowledge of the underlying mechanisms, in part the result of a lack of animal models. We developed a mouse model of halothane‐induced liver injury and characterized the mechanisms accounting for tissue damage. Female and male Balb/c, DBA/1, and C57BL/6J mice were injected intraperitoneally with halothane.

Gregory T. Everson, John C. Hoefs, Leonard B. Seeff, Herbert L. Bonkovsky, Deepa Naishadham, Mitchell L. Shiffman, Jeffrey A. Kahn, Anna S. F. Lok, Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, William M. Lee, Jules L. Dienstag, Marc G. Ghany, Chihiro Morishima, HALT‐C Trial Group – 28 November 2006 – In patients with chronic hepatitis C, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis are associated with lower rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) to interferon (IFN)‐based therapy.

Martin Lagging, Ana I. Romero, Johan Westin, Gunnar Norkrans, Amar P. Dhillon, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky, Stefan Zeuzem, Michael von Wagner, Francesco Negro, Solko W. Schalm, Bart L. Haagmans, Carlo Ferrari, Gabriele Missale, Avidan U. Neumann, Elke Verheij‐Hart, Kristoffer Hellstrand, DITTO‐HCV Study Group – 28 November 2006 – Plasma from 173 patients with HCV genotype 1 infection was analyzed for IP‐10 levels prior to treatment with pegylated interferon‐α‐2a and ribavirin.

Andrew J. Muir, John G. McHutchison – 28 November 2006

Tom Luedde, Christian Trautwein – 28 November 2006

Yalan Wang, Ning Zheng, Zhengbin Lu, Wenhan Wu, Lianfu Wang, Atsunori Nakao, Michael T. Lotze, Carrie E. Langer, John J. Fung, Shiguang Qian, Lina Lu – 28 November 2006 – Liver transplant tolerance in pigs, rats, and mice has been disclosed for decades, but the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. Accumulating data indicate that residing dendritic cells (DC) are important in determining direction of immune responses in the liver. However, our knowledge remains very limited due to the difficulties in obtaining sufficient liver DC.