Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a leading cause of liver diseases worldwide. Hence, accurate and noninvasive diagnostic tools are essential to assess the disease condition. While ultrasound-derived fat fraction (UDFF) has great potential for the evaluation of liver steatosis, it lacks guidelines that fully meet the clinical needs. Now, researchers have formulated an expert consensus on the use of UDFF for the evaluation of MASLD, reshaping the diagnosis of MASLD in clinical practice.

Obesity harms not only metabolism but also bone strength and repair. This may be attributed to impaired glucose homeostasis and altered bone properties, features that are both strongly affected by hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signaling. Now, researchers have evaluated the effect of HIF activation using Roxadustat on bone health and metabolism in obese mice. They observed that Roxadustat prevented weight gain, improved glucose tolerance, and enhanced bone healing, highlighting a therapeutic strategy to tackle both metabolic and skeletal deterioration in obesity.

A collaborative effort led by Professor Wanli Liu 's team at Tsinghua University has uncovered a sophisticated mechanism by which keratinocytes, the predominant cell type in the skin's epidermis, translate local environmental signals into systemic immune instructions. Published simultaneously in Nature and Immunity & Inflammation, the two complementary studies identify a pivotal molecular player—the ion channel TRPV3—in keratinocytes that can convert metabolic and sensory cues into potent humoral immune responses.

Despite modern high-throughput sequencing, the genetic cause of most rare movement disorders remains unclear. A research team in Bochum and Tübingen has now solved one piece of the puzzle: The researchers examined 2,811 patients with ataxia, hereditary spastic paraplegia, and dystonia and identified disease-causing variants of the gene CD99L2 as the cause of X-linked spastic ataxia. The findings were published in Nature Communications on February 14, 2026.

Penn Engineers have redesigned the lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) used to deliver mRNA vaccines, showing that subtle changes in lipid chemistry can influence immune cell metabolism and reduce inflammation. The findings suggest that lipid nanoparticles can actively shape how immune cells respond, opening new avenues for vaccines and immunotherapies.