[HBPP Roster]

This study section reviews applications involving alcohol metabolism and disease; cholesterol and bile salt metabolism; fibrosis and cirrhosis; liver immunology and inflammation; hepatobiliary transporters and ion channels; mechanisms of cell death and inflammation; cell biology of liver cells; mechanisms of repair and regeneration; pathophysiology and treatment of inherited and acquired hepatobiliary diseases; viral hepatitis and liver transplantation.

Specific areas covered by HBPP:

• Pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury, including the role of nutrient deficiencies and endotoxemia.
• Mechanisms of hepatic cholesterol and lipid metabolism related to bile formation.
• Bile salt synthesis, metabolism and transport.
• Mechanisms of bile formation and cholestasis.
• Effects of bile salts on lipid absorption/assembly and regulation of lipoprotein genes
• Physiologic mechanisms of hepatobiliary transport, including mechanisms of uptake and excretion of organic solutes, heavy metals, and ions.
• The use of isolated parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells of the liver including hepatocytes, stellate cells, Kupffer cells, endothelial cells, cholangiocytes and resident lymphocytes particularly as they relate to the pathogenesis of liver disease.
• Pathogenesis and treatment of autoimmune, cholestatic, metabolic, viral mediated and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) and cholangiopathies.
• Pathogenesis of gallstones and gallbladder disease.
• Cellular and molecular mechanisms of fibrosis and cirrhosis including complications such as ascites and hepatic encephalopathy.
• Mechanism of hepatocyte injury including immune response, oxidative stress, apoptosis, pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators, including signal transduction pathways and neuromediators.
• Inflammatory response of the liver to injury or infection (acute phase response).
• Studies of gene regulation as they pertain to the pathogenesis of liver diseases.
• Studies of liver organ repair and regeneration.
• Regulation of splanchnic blood flow as it pertains to mechanisms of portal hypertension.
• Liver cell and organ transplantation, liver ischemia-reperfusion injury, and application of transplantation to the therapy of liver diseases.
• Gene and progenitor cell therapy of genetic and acquired hepatobiliary diseases.
• Viral hepatitis as it relates to the pathogenesis of hepatobiliary disease.

HBPP has the following shared interests within the DIG IRG:

• With Xenobiotic and Nutrient Disposition and Action [XNDA]:  There is a shared interest with XNDA in alcohol metabolism and toxicity, hepatobiliary transporters, and cholesterol and lipid transport.  Applications that focus on these processes in the physiology and pathophysiology of liver diseases could be assigned to HBPP.  Studies focused on xenobiotics and nutrients should be referred to XNDA.

• With Gastrointestinal Cell and Molecular Biology [GCMB]:  There is shared interest with GCMB in mechanisms of signal transduction, intracellular trafficking, cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, gene regulation, gene and somatic cell therapy and progenitor cells, mechanisms of cell death and molecular physiology of ion channels and transporters, liver repair and regeneration. Applications that focus on these processes as they relate to liver diseases could be assigned to HBPP.

• With Gastrointestinal Mucosal Pathobiology [GMPB]:  There is shared interest with GMPB in mechanism of inflammation.  Studies regarding hepatic infection and inflammation should be assigned to HBPP.

• With Clinical and Integrative Gastrointestinal Pathobiology [CIGP]: There is also shared interest with CIGP with inherited metabolic disorders of the liver and patient oriented research.  Studies that are focused on the pathogenesis of the inherited metabolic disorders of the liver and treatment of diseases could be assigned to HBPP.  In general patient oriented research on the liver would be assigned to CIGP.

HBPP has the following shared interests outside the DIG IRG:

• With the Genes, Genomes & Genetics [GGG] IRG: Applications that focus on gene transcription studies of the pathophysiology of liver disease could be assigned to the HBPP. When the focus is a general understanding of gene transcription, assignment could be to the GGG IRG.

• With the Cell Biology [CB] IRG: Shared interest with membrane transport, apoptosis, intracellular trafficking and cytoskeleton, signal transduction, cell-junction and cell-cell matrix interaction.  When the focus is on a general cellular and molecular understanding, assignment could be to the CB IRG.  Applications dealing with hepatobiliary cells as related to pathobiology of liver disease could be assigned to the HBPP study section.

• With the Bioengineering Sciences and Technologies [BST] IRG:  Applications focused on liver specific biological mechanisms and therapies could be assigned to HBPP. On the other hand, grant applications focused on developing technologies to introduce genes and drugs in a general cellular context could be assigned to the BST IRG.

• With the Immunology [IMM] IRG: Applications focusing on inflammation, innate immunology, and autoimmune diseases of liver might be assigned to HBPP.  Liver transplant applications, where the focus is on transplant immunology, could be assigned to the IMM IRG, whereas those related to pathobiology of organ function could be assigned to HBPP.  Applications on basic, pre-clinical, and clinical investigations involving the etiology, initiation, immunopathophysiology, prevention and treatment of diseases in which the immune system plays a major role, maybe assigned to the IMM IRG.

• With the Infectious Diseases and Microbiology [IDM] IRG: Shared interest with viral infections (including hepatitis). Applications dealing with the response to viral infections as it relates to the pathogenesis of liver injury could be assigned to the HBPP study section.  Assignment to the IDM IRG may be appropriate for studies where the focus is on the virus.

• With the Hematology [HEME] IRG: There is shared interest in iron metabolism and stem cell biology. Applications dealing primarily with liver complications of iron overload and hepatic progenitor cells could be assigned to HBPP while those dealing with iron and heme metabolism as related to blood disorders, iron overload states and strategies for therapeutic intervention and sideroblastic anemias, acquired and inherited, could be assigned to the HEME IRG.

• With the Cardiovascular Sciences [CVS] IRG: Shared interest with cholesterol and lipid metabolism, cytokines and nitric oxide.  Proposals dealing with lipid metabolism in the arterial wall or arterosclerosis could be assigned to the CVS IRG.   Applications on the biochemistry of elevated plasma lipids and lipoproteins in the intestine and liver may also be assigned to the CVS IRG when the focus is on atherosclerosis and inflammation in the cardiovascular system.  Applications dealing with cholesterol and lipid metabolism as it relates to bile salt metabolism and excretion, and the role of cytokines and nitric oxide in the pathogenesis of liver diseases could be assigned to HBPP.

• With the Endocrinology, Metabolism, Nutrition, and Reproductive Sciences [EMNR] IRG:  Shared interest with cholesterol metabolism and complications of diabetes.  Applications dealing primarily with lipid metabolism in the liver as it relates to NAFLD could be assigned to the HBPP study section. On the other hand applications focusing on lipoproteins, lipid metabolism and diabetic complications could be assigned to the EMNR IRG.

• With the Surgical Sciences, Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering [SBIB] IRG: Applications on liver ischemia-reperfusion injury could be assigned to either the SBIB IRG or HBPP, with HBPP focused more on the evaluation of liver function following surgical procedures and SBIB on surgical aspects of trauma and critical care.