Xue (Xue et al., 2013; Kerber et al., 2020) reported that highly activated EPAS1 in the intestinal epithelium of IBD patients and mice enhances tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression and promotes experimental colitis by inducing TNF-α promoter activity through the myc-associated zinc-finger protein (MAZ) binding, sparing NF-κB pathway. Here, TNF is linked to colitis.