Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played an important role in the prevention and treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in China. The integration of Chinese and Western medicine is an important feature of Chinese COVID-19 prevention and treatment. According to a series of evidence-based studies, TCM can reduce the infection rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in high-risk groups. For patients with mild and moderate forms of COVID-19, TCM can relieve the related signs and symptoms, shorten the period of nucleic-acid negative conversion, and reduce conversion rate to the severe form of the disease. For COVID-19 patients with severe and critical illnesses, TCM can improve inflammatory indicators and blood oxygen saturation, shorten the hospital stay, and reduce the mortality rate. During recovery, TCM can improve patients’ symptoms, promote organ function recovery, boost the quality of patients’ life, and reduce the nucleic-acid repositive conversion rate. A series of mechanism research studies revealed that capability of TCM to treat COVID-19 through antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects, immune regulation, and protection of organ function via a multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway approach.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was reported at the end of 2019 as a worldwide health concern causing a pandemic of unusual viral pneumonia and many other organ damages, which was defined by the World Health Organization as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The pandemic is considered a significant threat to global public health till now. In this review, we have summarized the lessons learnt during the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2, including its prototype and variants. The overall clinical features of variants of concern (VOC), heterogeneity in the clinical manifestations, radiology and pathology of COVID-19 patients are also discussed, along with advances in therapeutic agents.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has triggered a huge impact on healthcare, socioeconomics, and other aspects of the world over the past three years. An increasing number of studies have identified a complex relationship between COVID-19 and stroke, although active measures are being implemented to prevent disease transmission. Severe COVID-19 may be associated with an increased risk of stroke and increase the rates of disability and mortality, posing a serious challenge to acute stroke diagnosis, treatment, and care. This review aims to provide an update on the influence of COVID-19 itself or vaccines on stroke, including arterial stroke (ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke) and venous stroke (cerebral venous thrombosis). Additionally, the neurovascular mechanisms involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection and the clinical characteristics of stroke in the COVID-19 setting are presented. Evidence on vaccinations, potential therapeutic approaches, and effective strategies for stroke management has been highlighted.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has stimulated tremendous efforts to develop therapeutic agents that target severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to control viral infection. So far, a few small-molecule antiviral drugs, including nirmatrelvir–ritonavir (Paxlovid), remdesivir, and molnupiravir have been marketed for the treatment of COVID-19. Nirmatrelvir–ritonavir has been recommended by the World Health Organization as an early treatment for outpatients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. However, the existing treatment options have limitations, and effective treatment strategies that are cost-effective and convenient for tackling COVID-19 are still needed. To date, four domestically developed oral anti-COVID-19 drugs have been granted conditional market approval in China. These drugs include azvudine, simnotrelvir–ritonavir (Xiannuoxin), leritrelvir, and mindeudesivir (VV116). Preclinical and clinical studies have explored the efficacy and tolerability of mindeudesivir and supported its early use in mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases at high risk for progression. In this review, we discuss the most recent findings regarding the pharmacological mechanism and therapeutic effects focusing on mindeudesivir and other small-molecule antiviral agents for COVID-19. These findings will expand our understanding and highlight the potential widespread application of China’s homegrown anti-COVID-19 drugs.
As of May 3, 2023, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in more than 760 million confirmed cases and over 6.9 million deaths. Several patients have developed pneumonia, which can deteriorate into acute respiratory distress syndrome. The primary etiology may be attributed to cytokine storm, which is triggered by the excessive release of proinflammatory cytokines and subsequently leads to immune dysregulation. Considering that high levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been detected in several highly pathogenic coronavirus-infected diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002, the Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012, and COVID-19, the IL-6 pathway has emerged as a key in the pathogenesis of this hyperinflammatory state. Thus, we review the history of cytokine storm and the process of targeting IL-6 signaling to elucidate the pivotal role played by tocilizumab in combating COVID-19.
Confronted with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, China has become an asset in tackling the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and mutation, with several innovative platforms, which provides various technical means in this persisting combat. Derived from collaborated researches, vaccines based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 or inactivated whole virus are a cornerstone of the public health response to COVID-19. Herein, we outline representative vaccines in multiple routes, while the merits and plights of the existing vaccine strategies are also summarized. Likewise, new technologies may provide more potent or broader immunity and will contribute to fight against hypermutated SARS-CoV-2 variants. All in all, with the ultimate aim of delivering robust and durable protection that is resilient to emerging infectious disease, alongside the traditional routes, the discovery of innovative approach to developing effective vaccines based on virus properties remains our top priority.
The epidemic of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and its variants of concern (VOCs) has been ongoing for over 3 years. Antibody therapies encompassing convalescent plasma, hyperimmunoglobulin, and neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) applied in passive immunotherapy have yielded positive outcomes and played a crucial role in the early COVID-19 treatment. In this review, the development path, action mechanism, clinical research results, challenges, and safety profile associated with the use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma, hyperimmunoglobulin, and mAbs were summarized. In addition, the prospects of applying antibody therapy against VOCs was assessed, offering insights into the coping strategies for facing new infectious disease outbreaks.
Pancreatic cancer, notorious for its late diagnosis and aggressive progression, poses a substantial challenge owing to scarce treatment alternatives. This review endeavors to furnish a holistic insight into pancreatic cancer, encompassing its epidemiology, genomic characterization, risk factors, diagnosis, therapeutic strategies, and treatment resistance mechanisms. We delve into identifying risk factors, including genetic predisposition and environmental exposures, and explore recent research advancements in precursor lesions and molecular subtypes of pancreatic cancer. Additionally, we highlight the development and application of multi-omics approaches in pancreatic cancer research and discuss the latest combinations of pancreatic cancer biomarkers and their efficacy. We also dissect the primary mechanisms underlying treatment resistance in this malignancy, illustrating the latest therapeutic options and advancements in the field. Conclusively, we accentuate the urgent demand for more extensive research to enhance the prognosis for pancreatic cancer patients.
OX40 is a costimulatory receptor that is expressed primarily on activated CD4+, CD8+, and regulatory T cells. The ligation of OX40 to its sole ligand OX40L potentiates T cell expansion, differentiation, and activation and also promotes dendritic cells to mature to enhance their cytokine production. Therefore, the use of agonistic anti-OX40 antibodies for cancer immunotherapy has gained great interest. However, most of the agonistic anti-OX40 antibodies in the clinic are OX40L-competitive and show limited efficacy. Here, we discovered that BGB-A445, a non-ligand-competitive agonistic anti-OX40 antibody currently under clinical investigation, induced optimal T cell activation without impairing dendritic cell function. In addition, BGB-A445 dose-dependently and significantly depleted regulatory T cells in vitro and in vivo via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. In the MC38 syngeneic model established in humanized OX40 knock-in mice, BGB-A445 demonstrated robust and dose-dependent antitumor efficacy, whereas the ligand-competitive anti-OX40 antibody showed antitumor efficacy characterized by a hook effect. Furthermore, BGB-A445 demonstrated a strong combination antitumor effect with an anti-PD-1 antibody. Taken together, our findings show that BGB-A445, which does not block OX40–OX40L interaction in contrast to clinical-stage anti-OX40 antibodies, shows superior immune-stimulating effects and antitumor efficacy and thus warrants further clinical investigation.
Through bioinformatics predictions, we identified that GTF2I and FAT1 were downregulated in thyroid carcinoma (TC). Further, Pearson’s correlation coefficient revealed a positive correlation between GTF2I expression and FAT1 expression. Therefore, we selected them for this present study, where the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived EVs (BMSDs-EVs) enriched with GTF2I were evaluated on the epithelial–to–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness maintenance in TC. The under-expression of GTF2I and FAT1 was validated in TC cell lines. Ectopically expressed GTF2I and FAT1 were found to augment malignant phenotypes of TC cells, EMT, and stemness maintenance. Mechanistic studies revealed that GTF2I bound to the promoter region of FAT1 and consequently upregulated its expression. MSC-EVs could shuttle GTF2I into TPC-1 cells, where GTF2I inhibited TC malignant phenotypes, EMT, and stemness maintenance by increasing the expression of FAT1 and facilitating the FAT1-mediated CDK4/FOXM1 downregulation. In vivo experiments confirmed that silencing of GTF2I accelerated tumor growth in nude mice. Taken together, our work suggests that GTF2I transferred by MSC-EVs confer antioncogenic effects through the FAT1/CDK4/FOXM1 axis and may be used as a promising biomarker for TC treatment.
Brain development requires a delicate balance between self-renewal and differentiation in neural stem cells (NSC), which rely on the precise regulation of gene expression. Ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2) modulates gene expression by the hydroxymethylation of 5-methylcytosine in DNA as an important epigenetic factor and participates in the neuronal differentiation. Yet, the regulation of TET2 in the process of neuronal differentiation remains unknown. Here, the protein level of TET2 was reduced by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway during NSC differentiation, in contrast to mRNA level. We identified that TET2 physically interacts with the core subunits of the glucose-induced degradation-deficient (GID) ubiquitin ligase complex, an evolutionarily conserved ubiquitin ligase complex and is ubiquitinated by itself. The protein levels of GID complex subunits increased reciprocally with TET2 level upon NSC differentiation. The silencing of the core subunits of the GID complex, including WDR26 and ARMC8, attenuated the ubiquitination and degradation of TET2, increased the global 5-hydroxymethylcytosine levels, and promoted the differentiation of the NSC. TET2 level increased in the brain of the Wdr26+/− mice. Our results illustrated that the GID complex negatively regulates TET2 protein stability, further modulates NSC differentiation, and represents a novel regulatory mechanism involved in brain development.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) displays normal or near-normal left ventricular ejection fraction, diastolic dysfunction, cardiac hypertrophy, and poor exercise capacity. Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid, possesses cardiovascular benefits. Adult male mice were assigned to chow or high-fat diet with L-NAME (“two-hit” model) for 15 weeks. Diastolic function was assessed using echocardiography and non-invasive Doppler technique. Myocardial morphology, mitochondrial ultrastructure, and cardiomyocyte mechanical properties were evaluated. Proteomics analysis, autophagic flux, and intracellular Ca2+ were also assessed in chow and HFpEF mice. The results show exercise intolerance and cardiac diastolic dysfunction in “two-hit”-induced HFpEF model, in which unfavorable geometric changes such as increased cell size, interstitial fibrosis, and mitochondrial swelling occurred in the myocardium. Diastolic dysfunction was indicated by the elevated E value, mitral E/A ratio, and E/e’ ratio, decreased e’ value and maximal velocity of re-lengthening (–dL/dt), and prolonged re-lengthening in HFpEF mice. The effects of these processes were alleviated by berberine. Moreover, berberine ameliorated autophagic flux, alleviated Drp1 mitochondrial localization, mitochondrial Ca2+ overload and fragmentation, and promoted intracellular Ca2+ reuptake into sarcoplasmic reticulum by regulating phospholamban and SERCA2a. Finally, berberine alleviated diastolic dysfunction in “two-hit” diet-induced HFpEF model possibly because of the promotion of autophagic flux, inhibition of mitochondrial fragmentation, and cytosolic Ca2+ overload.
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a highly heterogeneous recessive inherited disorder. FAP54, the homolog of CFAP54 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, was previously demonstrated as the C1d projection of the central microtubule apparatus of flagella. A Cfap54 knockout mouse model was then reported to have PCD-relevant phenotypes. Through whole-exome sequencing, compound heterozygous variants c.2649_2657delinC (p. E883Dfs*47) and c.7312_7313insCGCAGGCTGAATTCTTGG (p. T2438delinsTQAEFLA) in a new suspected PCD-relevant gene, CFAP54, were identified in an individual with PCD. Two missense variants, c.4112A>C (p. E1371A) and c.6559C>T (p. P2187S), in CFAP54 were detected in another unrelated patient. In this study, a minigene assay was conducted on the frameshift mutation showing a reduction in mRNA expression. In addition, a CFAP54 in-frame variant knock-in mouse model was established, which recapitulated the typical symptoms of PCD, including hydrocephalus, infertility, and mucus accumulation in nasal sinuses. Correspondingly, two missense variants were deleterious, with a dramatic reduction in mRNA abundance from bronchial tissue and sperm. The identification of PCD-causing variants of CFAP54 in two unrelated patients with PCD for the first time provides strong supportive evidence that CFAP54 is a new PCD-causing gene. This study further helps expand the disease-associated gene spectrum and improve genetic testing for PCD diagnosis in the future.
