Previous studies showed that HNF4A expression is decreased in human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and intestine-specific deletion of the mouse Hnf4a gene increases susceptibility to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis (Ahn et al., 2008) and can lead to chronic inflammation even in the absence of DSS (Darsigny et al., 2009). Here, HNF4A is linked to colitis.