[Journal Of Cachexia Sarcopenia And Muscle] Researchers establishes a direct link between skeletal muscle homeostasis and hepatic metabolism. Dietary and anti-inflammatory interventions that restored ketogenesis may be a viable preventative approach for pre-cachectic patients with pancreatic cancer.

[Clinical Cancer Research] Scientists evaluated the utility of tumor content in circulating cell-free DNA for monitoring HCC throughout its natural history. They included 67 hepatitis B virus-related HCC patients, of whom 17 had paired pre- and post-treatment samples, and 90 controls.

[Blood] Investigators noted thrombocytopenia in mice with hepatic Notch1 deficiency, and so investigated thrombopoietin production and other features of platelets in mice. They found that the liver ultrastructure and hepatocyte function were comparable between control mice and Notch1-deficient mice.

[Hepatology] The authors propose that chronic endoplasmic reticulum stress is a common transversal factor contributing to the transition from liver disease to HCC. Interventional strategies to target the unfolded protein response in HCC as cancer therapy are also discussed.

[Stat] By all accounts, the US should be able to eliminate viral hepatitis, but instead new cases are on the rise, largely due to the opioid epidemic and increasing viral hepatitis transmission through injection drug use.

[Gut] Scientists developed a model to study the function of a fusion protein in the pathogenesis of diffuse gastric cancer (DGC). Using organoids generated from this model, they evaluated its oncogenic activity and the biochemical effects of the fusion protein on the RHOA pathway and its downstream cell biological effects in the pathogenesis of DGC.

[Nature Communications] The authors observed reduced DEAH-box helicase 9 (DHX9) protein levels in IBD patients, and mice with conditional DHX9 depletion in the intestinal epithelium exhibited an increased susceptibility to experimental colitis.

[British Journal Of Pharmacology] Researchers deciphered molecular pharmacological mechanisms and gene expression regulation for chymotrypsin signaling in intestinal epithelial cells.

[Molecular Neurodegeneration] Investigators evaluated neuroretinal degeneration, gliosis, subretinal space phagocyte infiltration, and retinal pigmented epithelium morphology through immunofluorescence analysis.

[Clinical Immunology] Scientists performed single-cell RNA sequencing and single-cell VDJ sequencing to generate transcriptional profiles for cells and T/B cell clonetype in skin lesions of bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris.

[Pediatrics] This retrospective cohort study examined children ages 1 to 16 within the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Care Network who received PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021.

[JCI Insight] Researchers profiled people with HIV and uninfected controls through single-cell transcriptomic and T cell receptor sequencing to understand the dynamics of HIV persistence in the central nervous system.