Inflammatory bowel disease articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  06 May 2024 | Open Access

  Targeted delivery of the probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii to the extracellular matrix enhances gut residence time and recovery in murine colitis

  In this study, the authors engineered a targeted Saccharomyces boulardii probiotic yeast platform, showing it exhibits high adherence to extracellular matrix proteins, resulting in longer gut residence, higher colon concentrations, and enhanced recovery in murine colitis.

  • Mairead K. Heavey
  • , Anthony Hazelton
  •  & Juliane Nguyen

• Article
  04 May 2024 | Open Access

  Diet-omics in the Study of Urban and Rural Crohn disease Evolution (SOURCE) cohort

  Exposures rather than genetics likely contribute to the worldwide increased prevalence of Crohn Disease (CD). Here, the authors constructed the Study Of Urban and Rural Crohn disease Evolution (SOURCE), a multicenter and multi-omics cross-sectional study, to identify that time spent by rural residents in urban environments is linked with changes in gut microbial composition and metabolomics, which mirrored those seen in CD. Reviewer recognition:

  • Tzipi Braun
  • , Rui Feng
  •  & Yael Haberman

• Article
  25 April 2024 | Open Access

  The gut commensal Blautia maintains colonic mucus function under low-fiber consumption through secretion of short-chain fatty acids

  Here, the authors show that elevating fiber intake in humans alters their gut microbiota, which, upon transplantation into mice, enhances intestinal mucus function, and identify a crucial role played by the commensal bacterium Blautia and its fermentation products.

  • Sandra M. Holmberg
  • , Rachel H. Feeney
  •  & Bjoern O. Schroeder

• Article
  09 April 2024 | Open Access

  DHX9 maintains epithelial homeostasis by restraining R-loop-mediated genomic instability in intestinal stem cells

  Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is featured with epithelial barrier dysfunction, however, the underlying mechanism is less clear. Here, the authors show that DHX9 deficiency in intestinal stem cells (ISCs) induces accumulation of abnormal R-loops and subsequent genomic instability, leading to impairment of ISCs and development of IBD.

  • Xingxing Ren
  • , Qiuyuan Liu
  •  & Shu Zhu

• Article
  22 March 2024 | Open Access

  Diindoles produced from commensal microbiota metabolites function as endogenous CAR/Nr1i3 ligands

  Here, combining metabolomic, proteomic and biophysical analyses, the authors identify and characterize a series of diindole molecules produced from commensal bacteria metabolites that act as specific agonists for the orphan constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), having potential to modulate gut and liver inflammation, metabolic diseases and cancer.

  • Jiabao Liu
  • , Ainaz Malekoltojari
  •  & Henry M. Krause

• Article
  07 March 2024 | Open Access

  Targeting P2Y₁₄R protects against necroptosis of intestinal epithelial cells through PKA/CREB/RIPK1 axis in ulcerative colitis

  P2Y₁₄R regulates necroptosis of intestinal epithelial cells though PKA/CREB/RIPK1 axis in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). Targeting P2Y₁₄R with a small molecule inhibitor improves dextran sulfate sodium-induced UC in mice, suggesting P2Y₁₄R as a promising target for treatment of UC.

  • Chunxiao Liu
  • , Hui Wang
  •  & Qinghua Hu

• Article
  23 February 2024 | Open Access

  Targeted delivery of Fc-fused PD-L1 for effective management of acute and chronic colitis

  Triggering the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint is an attractive therapeutic approach in inflammatory bowel disease, and PD-L1, conjugated to the Fc part of an immunoglobulin (PD-L1-Fc) has been shown to be effective in mouse models. Here authors show that fusing to reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive nanoparticles improves effect of PD-L1-Fc due to targeting to inflammation sites, while systemic toxicity is reduced.

  • Xudong Tang
  • , Yangyang Shang
  •  & Lei Chen

• Article
  17 February 2024 | Open Access

  Mucosal host-microbe interactions associate with clinical phenotypes in inflammatory bowel disease

  Here, through parallel profiling of the mucosal transcriptome and microbiome of intestinal biopsies derived from patients with IBD and from non-IBD controls, the authors characterize interactions between gene expression and microbiota composition associated with traits of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. Peer Review Information: Nature Communications thanks Robert Häsler, and the other, anonymous, reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.

  • Shixian Hu
  • , Arno R. Bourgonje
  •  & Rinse K. Weersma

• Article
  13 February 2024 | Open Access

  Dubosiella newyorkensis modulates immune tolerance in colitis via the L-lysine-activated AhR-IDO1-Kyn pathway

  Here, Zhang et al. identify a metabolic axis by which Lys-producing commensal bacterium Dubosiella newyorkensis mediates a Treg-mediated immunosuppressive microenvironment by activating AhR-IDO1-Kyn metabolic circuitry in dendritic cells.

  • Yanan Zhang
  • , Shuyu Tu
  •  & Shu Jeffrey Zhu

• Article
  03 February 2024 | Open Access

  Etrolizumab-s fails to control E-Cadherin-dependent co-stimulation of highly activated cytotoxic T cells

  The clinical success of anti- αEβ7 antibody Etrolizumab for Crohn’s disease is less than what is expected based on proof-of-concept studies. Here authors show, by characterization of T cells from Etrolizumab-treated patients, in vitro functional assays and reanalysis of public single cell datasets on Etrolizumab-treated patients, that at high level of T cell activation, which characterises T cells in Crohn’s disease, E-Cadherin-αEβ7 interactions become resistant to Etrolizumab inhibition.

  • Maximilian Wiendl
  • , Mark Dedden
  •  & Sebastian Zundler

• Article
  18 January 2024 | Open Access

  Altered DNA methylation within DNMT3A, AHRR, LTA/TNF loci mediates the effect of smoking on inflammatory bowel disease

  Cigarette smoking is an established risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease. The authors suggest that smoking may affect the risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis by modulating the DNA methylation status of the DNMT3A, LTA/TNF, and AHRR region, respectively.

  • Han Zhang
  • , Rahul Kalla
  •  & Xue Li

• Article
  14 November 2023 | Open Access

  Dietary L-Tryptophan consumption determines the number of colonic regulatory T cells and susceptibility to colitis via GPR15

  Environmental factors such as diet have been shown to be involved with the development of colitis. Here the authors show that L-tryptophan promotes the development of GPR15⁺ Treg cells via the host IDO1/2 pathway and that tryptophan consumption in mice reduces severity of colitis in a C. rodentium mouse model.

  • Nguyen T. Van
  • , Karen Zhang
  •  & Sangwon V. Kim

• Article
  06 November 2023 | Open Access

  Microbiome and metabolome features in inflammatory bowel disease via multi-omics integration analyses across cohorts

  Gut microbiota play pivotal roles in IBD. Here, Ning et al. use a multi-omics approach to characterize gut microbiota and metabolites alterations, and potential pathogenic bacteria associated with IBD, with the aim to help develop more precise biomarkers for IBD diagnosis and drug targets

  • Lijun Ning
  • , Yi-Lu Zhou
  •  & Jie Hong

• Article
  23 October 2023 | Open Access

  Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced colitis is mediated by polyfunctional lymphocytes and is dependent on an IL23/IFNγ axis

  Immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) could effectively target cancers that are resistant to traditional therapy but may initiate immune related adverse effects, such as colitis. Here, authors characterise the gut immune microenvironment during CPI-colitis by bulk RNA sequencing, single-cell RNA sequencing and flow cytometry, and find that interleukin 23 plays an important role in promoting inflammation via cytotoxic polyfunctional IFNγ-producing lymphocytes.

  • Jonathan W. Lo
  • , Domenico Cozzetto
  •  & Nick Powell

• Article
  16 October 2023 | Open Access

  Sleeping Beauty transposon mutagenesis identified genes and pathways involved in inflammation-associated colon tumor development

  Chronic inflammation promotes the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) while the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Here, the authors perform in vivo transposon mutagenesis screening to identify that TNFα-activated senescence signaling acts as selective pressure to drive mutation of Cdkn2a and other senescence-related genes in inflammation-accelerated CRC.

  • Kana Shimomura
  • , Naoko Hattori
  •  & Haruna Takeda

• Article
  05 September 2023 | Open Access

  Aryl hydrocarbon receptor utilises cellular zinc signals to maintain the gut epithelial barrier

  Dietary zinc and plant-derived aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonists are involved in maintaining intestinal epithelium integrity. The authors show that combined supplementation with AHR ligands and zinc might be effective in preventing inflammatory gut disorders.

  • Xiuchuan (Lucas) Hu
  • , Wenfeng Xiao
  •  & Christer Hogstrand

• Article
  22 August 2023 | Open Access

  Bile acid-dependent transcription factors and chromatin accessibility determine regional heterogeneity of intestinal antimicrobial peptides

  Wang et al. clarify the regional heterogeneity of intestinal AMPs and identify that chromatin accessibility determines the potential of BATFs to regulate AMPs at the pre-transcriptional level, thus shaping the regional heterogeneity of AMPs.

  • Yue Wang
  • , Yanbo Yu
  •  & Yanqing Li

• Article
  26 July 2023 | Open Access

  Macrophage and neutrophil heterogeneity at single-cell spatial resolution in human inflammatory bowel disease

  Chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease display extensive heterogeneity in the immunopathology, disease manifestation and response to treatment. Here the authors apply single cell transcriptomic and spatial molecular imaging, and characterise macrophage and neutrophils in samples from patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

  • Alba Garrido-Trigo
  • , Ana M. Corraliza
  •  & Azucena Salas

• Article
  21 June 2023 | Open Access

  Selective oxidative protection leads to tissue topological changes orchestrated by macrophage during ulcerative colitis

  Ulcerative colitis is associated with increased infiltration and cellularity, yet the precise tissue topology remains poorly understood. Here the authors employ imaging mass cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing to characterise intestinal lesions in patients with ulcerative colitis, and show the architecture at the individual cell level which includes a decrease in the resident macrophage population.

  • Juan Du
  • , Junlei Zhang
  •  & Jianpeng Sheng

• Article
  13 June 2023 | Open Access

  Temperature-triggered in situ forming lipid mesophase gel for local treatment of ulcerative colitis

  Treatment of the chronic disease ulcerative colitis is impeded by systemic side effects of orally administered drugs. Here the authors develop a gel that uses the rectal temperature as a mechanism to trigger solidification for localized delivery of colitis therapeutics.

  • Marianna Carone
  • , Marianne R. Spalinger
  •  & Simone Aleandri

• Article
  07 June 2023 | Open Access

  A probiotic bi-functional peptidoglycan hydrolase sheds NOD2 ligands to regulate gut homeostasis in female mice

  Lactobacillus-based probiotics have been reported to be beneficial for colitis through incompletely understood mechanisms. Here the authors identify an uncharacterized secreted enzyme named LPH from multiple probiotic Lactobacillus strains, which protects female mice from chemically induced colitis and colorectal cancer via NOD2 signalling.

  • Jie Gao
  • , Lei Wang
  •  & Xiaolong He

• Article
  06 June 2023 | Open Access

  Colitis ameliorates cholestatic liver disease via suppression of bile acid synthesis

  The association between primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been known for decades, but mechanisms of gut-liver crosstalk are incompletely understood. Here, the authors show a colitis-triggered protective circuit suppressing cholestatic liver disease which encourages multi-organ treatment strategies for PSC.

  • Wenfang Gui
  • , Mikal Jacob Hole
  •  & Kai Markus Schneider

• Article
  15 May 2023 | Open Access

  Microbiota-assisted iron uptake promotes immune tolerance in the intestine

  Iron deficiencies are a common non intestinal symptom seen in patients with irritable bowel disease. Here the authors show an associative link between microbiota assisted uptake of nutrients including iron and the promotion of immune tolerance in the intestine.

  • Lizhen Zhu
  • , Geng Li
  •  & Xing Chang

• Article
  20 April 2023 | Open Access

  Identifying high-impact variants and genes in exomes of Ashkenazi Jewish inflammatory bowel disease patients

  Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is highly prevalent among the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Here, the authors identify novel IBD-associated variants and genes, validated by transcriptomic and phenome-wide associations.

  • Yiming Wu
  • , Kyle Gettler
  •  & Yuval Itan

• Article
  20 December 2022 | Open Access

  Chronic exposure to synthetic food colorant Allura Red AC promotes susceptibility to experimental colitis via intestinal serotonin in mice

  Allura Red AC is a dye used in food products. Here the authors report that chronic, long-term exposure to Allura Red AC increases susceptibility to experimental colitis in mice dependent on the serotonin biosynthetic enzyme TPH1, while intermittent exposure more typical for the human setting did not increase susceptibility to experimental colitis.

  • Yun Han Kwon
  • , Suhrid Banskota
  •  & Waliul I. Khan

• Article
  21 October 2022 | Open Access

  DNA methyltransferase 3A controls intestinal epithelial barrier function and regeneration in the colon

  DNA methyltransferase 3 A (DNMT3A) is involved in DNA methylation, and genetic variants in the DNMT3 locus have been associated with inflammatory bowel disease. Here the authors report that DNMT3A controls intestinal epithelial barrier function and restoration of the gut barrier function after intestinal epithelial perturbation.

  • Antonella Fazio
  • , Dora Bordoni
  •  & Philip Rosenstiel

• Article
  03 October 2022 | Open Access

  Interleukin-22 regulates neutrophil recruitment in ulcerative colitis and is associated with resistance to ustekinumab therapy

  Mechanisms of non-response to ustekinumab, a biologic targeting IL-23, are currently unclear. Here, the authors show that the transcriptional program regulated by IL-22, an IL-23 responsive cytokine, is enriched in patients with ulcerative colitis unresponsive to ustekinumab and associated with higher colon neutrophil recruitment and activation of upstream IL-22 regulators.

  • Polychronis Pavlidis
  • , Anastasia Tsakmaki
  •  & Nick Powell

• Article
  28 September 2022 | Open Access

  In vivo self-assembled siRNA as a modality for combination therapy of ulcerative colitis

  Management of ulcerative colitis can require a combination of treatments targeting different pathways. Here the authors design a therapy for ulcerative colitis based on a multitargeted genetic circuit to simultaneously target TNF-α, B7-1 and integrin α4, and show the therapy is effective in male mice with induced or spontaneous genetic colitis.

  • Xinyan Zhou
  • , Mengchao Yu
  •  & Xi Chen

• Article
  16 August 2022 | Open Access

  Mannose ameliorates experimental colitis by protecting intestinal barrier integrity

  New potential therapies for inflammatory bowel disease are needed as not all patients respond to or maintain a response to conventional therapies. Here the authors report that mannose supplementation ameliorates experimental colitis in male mice, potentially via effects on intestinal epithelium lysosomal integrity.

  • Lijun Dong
  • , Jingwen Xie
  •  & Daming Zuo

• Article
  30 July 2022 | Open Access

  Cholesterol sulfate alleviates ulcerative colitis by promoting cholesterol biosynthesis in colonic epithelial cells

  New treatment strategies are required for ulcerative colitis. Here the authors show in mouse models that cholesterol sulfate, an endogenous active cholesterol derivative, contributes to the healing of the mucosal barrier by promoting cholesterol biosynthesis in colonic epithelial cells and exhibits therapeutic efficacy against ulcerative colitis.

  • Dongke Xu
  • , Ruijun Ma
  •  & Xiaobo Li

• Article
  27 June 2022 | Open Access

  High-dimensional profiling reveals Tc17 cell enrichment in active Crohn’s disease and identifies a potentially targetable signature

  The T cell compartment in patients with Crohn's disease is dysregulated. Here the authors use cytometric profiling to reveal an enrichment of distinct Tc17 cells during active Crohn's disease and may suggest CD6 as a potential target for therapeutic studies.

  • A.-M. Globig
  • , A. V. Hipp
  •  & B. Bengsch

• Article
  28 April 2022 | Open Access

  A systems genomics approach to uncover patient-specific pathogenic pathways and proteins in ulcerative colitis

  Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) affect cellular regulatory networks, and SNP co-occurrences contribute to disease pathogenesis in ulcerative colitis (UC). Here the authors introduce iSNP, a precision medicine pipeline that combines genomics and network biology approaches to uncover patient specific pathways affected in complex diseases.

  • Johanne Brooks-Warburton
  • , Dezso Modos
  •  & Tamas Korcsmaros

• Article
  16 March 2022 | Open Access

  Antibody decay, T cell immunity and breakthrough infections following two SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses in inflammatory bowel disease patients treated with infliximab and vedolizumab

  Vaccination is effective in protecting from COVID-19. Here the authors report immune responses and breakthrough infections in twice-vaccinated patients receiving anti-TNF treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, and find dampened vaccine responses that implicate the need of adapted vaccination schedules for these patients.

  • Simeng Lin
  • , Nicholas A. Kennedy
  •  & Jeannie Bishop

• Article
  11 February 2022 | Open Access

  The spatial transcriptomic landscape of the healing mouse intestine following damage

  The colon is comprised of specialized cells that interact with each other to function, however, the molecular regionalization of the colon is incompletely understood. Here, the authors use spatial transcriptomics to generate a publicly available resource defining the transcriptomic regionalization of the colon during steady state and mucosal healing.

  • Sara M. Parigi
  • , Ludvig Larsson
  •  & Eduardo J. Villablanca

• Article
  10 January 2022 | Open Access

  Microbial enzymes induce colitis by reactivating triclosan in the mouse gastrointestinal tract

  Triclosan (TCS), an antimicrobial agent commonly found in consumer products, has been reported to exacerbates colitis in animal models. Here, using in vitro and in vivo approaches, the authors show that gut bacterial enzymes can drive the metabolic activation and gut toxicity of TCS, highlighting an important role of intestinal microbial factors in the complex etiology of colitis.

  • Jianan Zhang
  • , Morgan E. Walker
  •  & Guodong Zhang

• Article
  09 December 2021 | Open Access

  Nanoparticle-assembled bioadhesive coacervate coating with prolonged gastrointestinal retention for inflammatory bowel disease therapy

  The development of a drug delivery system capable of prolonged retention in the gastrointestinal tract remains a clinical challenge. Here the authors present a bio-adhesive liquid coacervate coating on the intestinal tract that acts as a flowable drug carrier, mediates the sustained release of diverse drugs, and potentially enhances therapeutic efficacy against gastrointestinal diseases.

  • Pengchao Zhao
  • , Xianfeng Xia
  •  & Liming Bian

• Article
  24 September 2021 | Open Access

  Investigating the shared genetic architecture between multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel diseases

  An epidemiological association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is well-established, but a genetic link is unclear. Here, the authors investigate the shared genetic architecture between MS and IBD to shed light on the biological basis of comorbidity.

  • Yuanhao Yang
  • , Hannah Musco
  •  & Yuan Zhou

• Article
  22 July 2021 | Open Access

  Mitochondrial transcription factor A in RORγt⁺ lymphocytes regulate small intestine homeostasis and metabolism

  RORγt is known to play critical roles in the regulation of a number of immune cell subsets. Here the authors implicate mitochondrial transcription factor A in the regulation of intestinal RORγt⁺ lymphocyte homeostasis and metabolic control in a murine in vivo model.

  • Zheng Fu
  • , Joseph W. Dean
  •  & Liang Zhou

• Article
  12 July 2021 | Open Access

  Artificial intelligence guided discovery of a barrier-protective therapy in inflammatory bowel disease

  Traditional drug discovery process use differential, Bayesian and other network based approaches. We developed a Boolean approach for building disease maps and prioritizing pre-clinical models to discover a first-in-class therapy to restore and protect the leaky gut barrier in inflammatory bowel disease.

  • Debashis Sahoo
  • , Lee Swanson
  •  & Pradipta Ghosh

• Article
  11 May 2021 | Open Access

  Critical role of interferons in gastrointestinal injury repair

  Despite being prevalent yet well studied, ulcerative colitis still has poorly characterized pathophysiology. Here the authors use mouse colitis models to find that type I and III interferon (IFN) both contribute to ameliorating the disease, with IFN signaling in either the epithelial or hematopoietic compartment sufficient for this protective effect.

  • Constance McElrath
  • , Vanessa Espinosa
  •  & Sergei V. Kotenko

• Article
  26 March 2021 | Open Access

  Single-cell analyses of Crohn’s disease tissues reveal intestinal intraepithelial T cells heterogeneity and altered subset distributions

  Crohn’s disease results from transmural inflammation in the gut, but analyses of local immune populations are still lacking. Here, the authors show, by combining multiple single-cell approaches, that intraepithelial and lamina propria T cells are heterogenous, show unique phenotypes, and exhibit altered subsets upon inflammation.

  • Natalia Jaeger
  • , Ramya Gamini
  •  & Marco Colonna

• Article
  18 February 2021 | Open Access

  Inflammation status modulates the effect of host genetic variation on intestinal gene expression in inflammatory bowel disease

  Inflammatory bowel diseases are heterogeneous, and little is known about how underlying genetic variation can affect their development. Here, the authors report that intestinal inflammation modulates the effect of host genetics on the gut mucosal expression of 190 genes in the context of inflammatory bowel diseases.

  • Shixian Hu
  • , Werna T. Uniken Venema
  •  & Rinse K. Weersma

• Article
  16 February 2021 | Open Access

  Pancreatic glycoprotein 2 is a first line of defense for mucosal protection in intestinal inflammation

  Glycoprotein-2 (GP-2) can protect the intestinal epithelial barrier from bacteria and is associated with protection against Crohn’s disease. Here, the authors show pancreatic GP-2 is the source of the intestine’s luminal GP-2 that binds bacteria and prevents them from attaching to the epithelium, also limiting pathology in a DSS colitis mouse model.

  • Yosuke Kurashima
  • , Takaaki Kigoshi
  •  & Hiroshi Kiyono

• Article
  05 February 2021 | Open Access

  Sprouty2 limits intestinal tuft and goblet cell numbers through GSK3β-mediated restriction of epithelial IL-33

  Dynamic regulation of colonic secretory cell numbers is a critical component of the response to intestinal injury and inflammation. Here, the authors show that loss of the intracellular signalling regulator Sprouty2 in the intestinal epithelial cells is a protective response to injury that leads to increased secretory cell numbers, thus limiting colitis severity.

  • Michael A. Schumacher
  • , Jonathan J. Hsieh
  •  & Mark R. Frey

• Article
  11 January 2021 | Open Access

  Induced organoids derived from patients with ulcerative colitis recapitulate colitic reactivity

  Although ulcerative colitis (UC) is a major type of inflammatory bowel disease, attempts to model it fully have fallen short. Here the authors use patient-derived iPS cells to develop a UC organoid model that recapitulates disease histological and functional features, and confirm the role of CXCL8/CXCR1 in pathogenesis.

  • Samaneh K. Sarvestani
  • , Steven Signs
  •  & Emina H. Huang

• Article
  11 January 2021 | Open Access

  NOD2 deficiency increases retrograde transport of secretory IgA complexes in Crohn’s disease

  Trafficking of IgA/commensal complex in the gut has been implicated in inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease, but molecular insights are still lacking. Here the authors show, using mouse model or human cells, that NOD2 mutation increases IgA transport, potentially by altering gut microfold cells from the gut, to impact gut inflammation.

  • Nicolas Rochereau
  • , Xavier Roblin
  •  & Stéphane Paul

• Article
  11 January 2021 | Open Access

  A diet-microbial metabolism feedforward loop modulates intestinal stem cell renewal in the stressed gut

  Here, using a mouse model of chronic stress, the authors investigate how diet impacts stress and gut microbial structure and epithelial integrity and show that dietary raffinose metabolism to fructose couples stress-induced gut microbial remodeling to intestinal stem cell renewal and epithelial homeostasis.

  • Yuanlong Hou
  • , Wei Wei
  •  & Haiping Hao

• Article
  20 November 2020 | Open Access

  FAM3D is essential for colon homeostasis and host defense against inflammation associated carcinogenesis

  The cytokine like protein FAM3D (Fam3D in mice) is highly expressed in the digestive tract with unknown role in colon pathophysiology. Here, by using gene deficient mice, the authors show that Fam3D is critically involved in colon homeostasis, host defense against colitis-associated carcinogenesis, and the balance of microbiota.

  • Weiwei Liang
  • , Xinjian Peng
  •  & Ying Wang

• Article
  11 August 2020 | Open Access

  Gut microbial co-abundance networks show specificity in inflammatory bowel disease and obesity

  Gut microbiome alterations have been linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and obesity. Here, the authors characterize the metagenomes of four large human cohorts and perform co-abundance network analysis showing that dysbiosis in disease is marked by the altered co-abundance relationships, suggesting that pathway coabundance networks are more heterogeneous than species network.

  • Lianmin Chen
  • , Valerie Collij
  •  & Jingyuan Fu

• Article
  24 July 2020 | Open Access

  Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases receiving cytokine inhibitors have low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion

  Cytokine storm seems to be a common feature of severe COVID-19 pathology. Here, the authors show a reduced rate of SARS-CoV2 positivity in a large population of patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases if they are already being treated with cytokine or JAK inhibitors, indicating these treatments are safe to continue and are possibly protective against COVID19.

  • David Simon
  • , Koray Tascilar
  •  & Georg Schett