Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology (journal)

Michelle Southard-Smith, PhD, and graduate student Joseph Benthal. (photo by Susan Urmy)
August 6, 2025

Clues offer new hope for treating GI tract disorders

Hirschsprung disease is a congenital disorder that occurs in approximately 1 in 5,000 babies. Caused by a lack of ENS neurons in the muscles of the colon, Hirschsprung disease disrupts gut motility, resulting in bowel obstruction.

By Bill Snyder
February 2, 2023

Nutrient absorption disease model

Vanderbilt researchers developed a model of a patient-specific mutation to explore the pathology of microvillus inclusion disease, a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening diarrhea.

By Leigh MacMillan
Research by Christopher Peek, PhD, left, Jim Cassat, MD, PhD, and their colleagues reveals how gut inflammation leads to bone loss.
August 25, 2022

Vanderbilt researchers discover how gut inflammation leads to bone loss

Gastrointestinal inflammation, such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease, triggers the expansion of a population of “bone-eating” cells, leading to bone loss.

By Leigh MacMillan
Stomach
October 14, 2021

New marker for metaplasia

A protein that transports water, called aquaporin 5, is expressed by cells undergoing changes that may increase risk for gastric cancer development, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.

By Bill Snyder
March 4, 2021

Probiotic protection

A probiotic factor given early in life to mice prevented intestinal inflammation in adulthood, providing a rationale for probiotic intervention in individuals at high risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease.

By Anivarya Kumar
April 16, 2020

Transporter’s role in gut barrier

A disease-associated mutation in a transporter protein impairs gut barrier function, leading to gastrointestinal disease and chronic infections.

By Leigh MacMillan
August 12, 2019

Pancreatic cancer clue

Inflammation synergizes with a cell’s intrinsic genetic program to promote the development of pancreatic cancer.
By Niyati Vachharajani
July 2, 2018

SMAD4 clue to colon cancer

Loss of a gene that is part of the TGF-beta signaling pathway increased inflammation in the colon and was observed in half of human colitis-associated cancers.
By Bill Snyder
January 28, 2015

New clue to a devastating disease

New findings suggest a previously unrecognized role for the Sox10 transcription factor in Hirschsprung’s disease, and may lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for this disease.
By Bill Snyder