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Hepatocellular carcinoma: Multiply hepatitis B virus infection by epigenetic factors pp. 3856–3868 Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major killer in southeastern Asia due in part to the propensity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) to establish a chronic liver infection. The currentmodel for HCC tumorigenesis also has a role for epigenetic elements such as DNA methylation. Niu et al . have used proteomic techniques to look at the changes in genes expressed in cell lines producing (HepG2.2.15) or not producing (HepG2) HBV. They confirmed that 15 proteins were downregulated in HepG2.2.15 but could be reactivated by treatment with 5‐Aza‐dC (a nucleotide analog that inhibits HBV DNA‐methyltransferases). They examined transcription and methylation, confirmed their own and other's findings by real‐time RT‐PCR, Western blots, and bisulfite analysis of DNA methylation patterns.Speedy subversion nets herpes new home pp. 3913–3927 The herpesviruses (HSV‐1, HSV‐2) are relatively large (∼152 kb) doublestranded DNA viruses that depend heavily on host components for replication. Infection is a footrace: the virus must get its DNA into the nucleus before the cell induces its antiviral defenses. Antrobus et al . looked at the state of the proteome after 6 h of exposure to HSV‐1 using 2‐DE and LC‐MS/MS and found >100 spots changed, ∼60 upregulated, 40 downregulated. The ontological groups affected included classes such as DNA replication, helicases, a cyclin, etc . Some host proteins were marked for degradation by ubiquitination, others were phosphorylated. The ER stress response appears to be modulated by the virus to prevent overload at different stages of infection. A number of the changes are very similar to effects of Cytomegalovirus and Epstein‐Barr virus (Herpesvirus family members) infections.Railroad track gauge as a weapon pp. 3928–3933 In Europe, as in other parts of the world, the period of the growth of railroads was also the period of proliferation of railroad gauges. For defensive and competitive reasons you didn't want your tracks used by your enemy. More recently the rule seemed to apply to ‐omic database formats, annotation and query languages. However, recognition that cooperation expands markets faster than cut‐throat competition led to the knowledge exchange systems described by Eisenacher et al . here. A “comprehensive toolbox” allows common collection, storage, submission and dissemination procedures. All of the structures are based on controlled vocabularies and eXtensible Markup Languages to enable continued, controlled growth. What else would you expect from a EU‐sponsored project?