Danthron prevents pulmonary fibrosis through improving mitochondrial function by upregulating carboxylesterase 3
Boyu Li, Rongman Xu, Hongyan Zheng, Zhen Tian, Shanshan Wang, Sicheng Xu, Danlei Yang, Jianping Zhao, Jungang Xie · 2026
Read Danthron prevents pulmonary fibrosis through improving mitochondrial function by upregulating carboxylesterase 3 by Boyu Li, Rongman Xu, Hongyan Zheng, Zhen Tian, Shanshan Wang, Sicheng Xu, Danlei Yang, Jianping Zhao, Jungang Xie (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13505081.txt.
Description
Boyu Li leads a team showing that a rhubarb compound can fight lung scarring by restoring a neglected enzyme, in a 2026 study. The disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, stiffens lungs with scar tissue and kills within years. Few drugs slow it, so new targets are prized.
In mice given a scarring chemical, the compound danthron cut collagen build-up and scar scores. It also calmed scar markers in human lung slices kept alive in the lab. At cell level it stopped scar cells from switching to their aggressive form and even reversed some that had. The path ran through an enzyme, CES3, which lifted the cells' energy factories and their cleanup of worn parts. Blocking CES3 erased the gains, and patient lungs showed the enzyme low. The authors name CES3 a candidate target.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Boyu Li, Rongman Xu, Hongyan Zheng, Zhen Tian, Shanshan Wang, Sicheng Xu, Danlei Yang, Jianping Zhao, Jungang Xie |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 45180 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |