MAPK8 and intervertebral disk degenerative disorder: Lu et al. found that (Lu et al., 2021) Hinokitiol enhances the nuclear translocation of metal-regulated transcription factor 1 by inhibiting the JNK pathway, restoring the normal function of FPN, reducing intercellular iron overload under OS, protecting human NPCs from iron death, and improving the progression of IDD in vivo.