Published in Nature Communications, a new study from Prasun Guha’s (Life Sciences) laboratory, led by Sujan Chatterjee (Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine) et al., discovered that the small molecule IP6 (phytic acid) acts within the nucleus and is essential and sufficient for activating the HDAC3 epigenetic axis. The study further shows that this regulatory pathway is disrupted in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), leading to compromised intestinal barrier function and “leaky gut".