The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) mediates the toxic effects of environmental pollutants and regulates innate and adaptive immune responses. This Review discusses how, in the past, AHR activation was avoided during drug development, but now the AHR is being targeted for treating inflammation, cancer and infectious diseases.

An increasing array of biomarkers available in blood, cerebrospinal fluid and through imaging are providing valuable proxies of disease processes in neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs). In their Review, Cummings and co-authors discuss the implementation of biomarkers in clinical trials across various NDDs, focusing on the context of use, to help expedite and de-risk drug development.

Hundreds of computational resources have been developed that can be applied to repurposing existing drugs for new indications, making it challenging to select the right resource for a specific project. To help address this challenge, this article provides an overview of computational approaches to drug repurposing based on a comprehensive survey of available resources classified into hierarchical categories for a web catalogue, and presents an expert evaluation of selected resources, as well as case studies to illustrate their application.

Fibrosis is a key characteristic of a range of chronic diseases that has been challenging to target with drugs. This Review highlights core pathways active in fibrotic conditions across organs, as well as specific mechanisms and characteristics of fibrotic diseases in the lung, gut, kidney, skin and liver, and provides proposals for strategies to improve the translation of potential antifibrotic therapies.