“Over the past decade, researchers have amassed a lengthy list of genetic variations that are linked to IBD. But Lee and his colleagues decided to examine a region of the genome where few geneticists had bothered to look: a ‘gene desert,’ says Lee, so named because it is devoid of any recognizable genes. ‘We didn’t know what we were going to find,’ he says. ‘And we ended up finding a master regulator of inflammatory responses.’

This master regulator is a stretch of DNA that controls the activity of a gene called ETS2, which is located far away from the gene desert. High levels of ETS2 activity, the team found, boost the ability of immune cells called macrophages to promote inflammation.

The finding also indicated that a class of cancer drugs called MEK inhibitors might prevent the activation of ETS2. The team found that these drugs could block the effects of the ETS2 protein, including the release of inflammation-promoting molecules, in cells grown in the laboratory. But MEK inhibitors can become toxic to other cells if given over the long term, says Lee, and so the team is developing ways to deliver the inhibitors only to macrophages before testing the approach in people with IBD.”

From Nature.