The MELK inhibitor OTSSP167 protects intestinal epithelial cells by maintaining a normal composition of gut microbiota and balancing gut microbiota distribution, inhibiting ferroptosis, reducing the expression of pro-inflammatory factors in intestinal tissues, and suppressing the AKT/IKK/P65 and ERK/IKK/P65 signaling cascades in vitro and in vivo, thereby exerting a protective effect on the intestinal tissues of colitis mice [291, 292]. This evidence concerns the gene MELK and colitis.