Many PLRC members actively participated in the AASLD’s The Liver Meeting® 2019. Two of the major events are highlighted below.
1. Basic Science Symposium Highlights New Findings in Liver Regeneration. Dr. Michalopoulos, chair of Pathology and Dr. Xiao-Ming Yin (a UPMC alumnus) organized a highly successful and well-attended basic research symposium. Many PLRC members were invited to give a talk in this session including Drs. Michalopoulos, Monga, Nejak-Bowen and Soto-Gutierrez. The symposium covered the timely topics of the cell-molecule circuits that are activated during liver regeneration after surgical resection and also emphasized the role of macrophages, endothelial cells and stellate cells in the process. The role of cellular reprogramming–especially how hepatocytes and cholangiocytes can served as facultative progenitors for each other to mediate hepatobiliary repair–was also discussed in great depth. Unique cellular processes including autophagy, cellular senescence and immune response as the mediators of cellular reprogramming which could assist in modulating hepatocyte differentiation and function while also providing novel models to study cellular reprogramming, were presented. Eventually, de novo organogenesis using iPS cells, decellularized livers as scaffolds to generate organoids or organs for transplantation, were discussed. Thus all important and timely concepts of hepatic regenerative medicine were discussed in the session. AASLD daily news covered the symposium, and the write up is available at https://www.aasldnews.org/basic-science-symposium-highlights-new-findings-in-liver-regeneration/
2. Basic research debrief at AASLD 2019. With over 900 abstracts presented, AASLD was a successful platform for disseminating and discussing basic research in liver. Dr. Gavin Arteel, provided a debrief of these sessions at a highly-attended session at the meeting. The debrief, which is available at the website below, highlighted the state of the art in basic sciences presented by many groups including PLRC members. https://www.aasldnews.org/debrief-reviews-high-impact-basic-science-presented-at-the-liver-meeting/
