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Gastrointestinal, BioWorld Science
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Illustration of gastrointestinal organs floating about hands
Cancer

Unlocking early genetic drivers of stomach cancer

March 28, 2025
By Coia Dulsat
Research published online in Nature on March 19, 2025, closely examines the changes occurring in the gastric epithelium during the progression toward cancer development. Certain mutations that occur in normal, nonreproductive cells over time can make these cells more prone to becoming cancerous later. The project began as a collaboration between the labs of Mike Stratton at the Sanger Institute and Suet Yi Leung from the University of Hong Kong, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation.
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Abstract illustration of pig and human with medical motifs
Drug design, drug delivery & technologies

Ten days of normal survival of a pig liver in a human being

March 26, 2025
By Mar de Miguel
Transplanting an animal organ into a human is now a closer reality following the successful xenotransplantation of a genetically modified pig liver into a patient diagnosed with brain death in China. The operation was intended to evaluate organ function over a 10-day period. This is a complex experimental trial that did not involve removing the patient's liver and still requires further study. However, the positive preclinical results suggest this strategy could save the lives of those waiting for a human organ, at least in certain cases.
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Doctor pointing at liver
Gastrointestinal

Hepatic stellate cells shape and control liver function

March 19, 2025
By Coia Dulsat
Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) and their collaborators have cast new light on the mechanisms by which hepatic stellate cells control liver metabolism and regeneration. The work builds on the concept of angiocrine signaling, established 15 years ago.
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Illustration for inflammatory bowel disease
Gastrointestinal

Targeting NAT10 as an approach for IBD management

March 17, 2025
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is impacted by genetic, environmental and immunological factors, where the imbalance in T-cell immune responses significantly promotes its progression. In recent years, the role of RNA modifications in epigenetic regulation has caught significant attention in research; among these, N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) is the only acetylation process in RNA and plays a role in several biological processes, but its implication in the functioning of immune cells is largely unknown to date.
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Gastrointestinal

NWD1 gene knockout tied to MASH-like phenotype in mice

March 17, 2025
The Ca2+ stored in the cellular endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a crucial role in protein folding and lipid transfer, and its impairment leads to cellular ER stress. When chronic cellular ER stress occurs in the liver, it triggers the pathogenesis of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Previous reports found that NACHT and WD repeat domain containing 1 (NWD1) localized in the ER and mitochondria in neural stem/progenitor cells, but the significance of NWD1 outside the brain is not well known.
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Hands holding holographic intestine
Substance use & poisoning

Glycopolymer radiomitigator protects mice from radiation-induced GI injury

March 6, 2025
Exposure to high-dose radiation can result in gastrointestinal (GI) acute radiation syndrome, which is characterized by disruption of the mucosal layer, intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction, and abnormal inflammatory responses. Currently, there are no FDA-approved therapies for the treatment radiation-induced GI injury.
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Microbiome illustration
Infection

Synthetic microbiome prevents Clostridioides difficile recurrences

March 6, 2025
By Coia Dulsat
Investigators at Pennsylvania State University have described a novel approach to combat Clostridioides difficile infection using a synthetic microbiome therapy, which offers an alternative to antibiotics and fecal microbiota transplant (FMT). C. diff, the main cause of antibiotic-related diarrhea, is responsible for an estimated half a million infections annually in the U.S.
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