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Frontiers in the Cellular and Molecular Physiology of the Hepatic Microcirculation
Sponsored by APS Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology Section
Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Carl Zeiss MicroImaging, Inc.

The liver is pivotal to host defense against toxins, cellular debris, and foreign particles. It also efficiently takes up solutes, converts and subsequently liberates them into the biliary tract and systemic circulation. With this, the liver not only plays a critical role in systemic host defense, it significantly contributes to cardiovascular, metabolic, exocrine and endocrine homeostasis. All of these functions, to some degree or another, are dependent upon the unique features of the hepatic microcirculation. In the past 5 years there have been great advances in our understanding of the regulation of the hepatic microcirculation and its relationship to other organs in health and disease. This symposium will take a cellular and molecular approach to understanding recent advances in the field and to delineate where there are deficiencies in our knowledge. More specifically, emphasis will be placed on using intravital microscopy of the hepatic microcirculation as a tool to examine the dynamic microvascular events within the liver and correlate this with enzymatic, molecular and genetic approaches.