About 10% of acute hepatitis cases and 50% of acute liver failure are caused by drug induction, where treatment remains largely limited. The SLIT/ROBO signaling axis is composed of the secretory SLIT proteins (SLIT1, SLIT2 and SLIT3) and their corresponding receptor ROBO. This axis is known to be involved in organ development, angiogenesis and leukocyte migration, as well as cancer metastasis, and has shown protective effects against organ damage.
Once it was considered to be more or less a passive energy-storing device that could double as a cushion. But increasingly, fat is conceptualized as an endocrine organ as much as a tissue type. Now, separate research groups have reported new insights into the functional roles of different fats based on their anatomical location and functional characteristics.
The concept of the 3 Rs – reducing, refining and replacing animal research – has been championed since the 1950s, when William Russel and Rex Burch argued in their book “The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique” that the 3 Rs could simultaneously improve the treatment of research animals and advance the quality of scientific and medical research and testing. Current standard practices of animal research undeniably cause animal suffering at the same time that they have prioritized replicability over translatability.
Insilico Medicine Inc. has identified serine/threonine-protein salt-inducible kinases (SIK) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH), giant cell arteritis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes and glomerulonephritis, among others.
Alagille syndrome (ALGS) is a rare, multisystem genetic disorder most commonly caused by haploinsufficiency of the JAG1 gene, leading to reduced JAG1 protein function and impaired development of intrahepatic bile ducts. Researchers from Arnatar Therapeutics Inc. described the development of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) engineered using their proprietary ACT‑UP1 platform to upregulate endogenous JAG1 expression and thereby address the underlying genetic deficiency.
Haisco Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. has described compounds acting as TNF-α/tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 1A (TNFR1) interaction inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Enveda has obtained IND clearance from the FDA and initiated a phase I trial of ENV-6946, a first-in-class oral small molecule for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Yes-associated protein (YAP), encoded by Yes1-associated transcriptional regulator (YAP1) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ), encoded by WW domain containing transcription regulator 1 (WWTR1), are two crucial paralog transcriptional regulators of the Hippo pathway regulating organ size, tissue homeostasis and disease progression.
Investigators at the Netherlands Hubrecht Institute have developed a novel gut organoid model, and used it to gain insight into the functions on human microfold (M) cells. Their experiments, which were published in the Dec. 10, 2025, issue of Nature, showed that M cells present gluten-derived antigens to T cells, which suggests a role for this cell type in the onset of celiac disease.
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