Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Saloni Bhatia, Padmini Gokhale, Teesta Katte, Shreeshanthi Acharya, Avinash Arvind Rasalkar, Soumya Vidapanakal, Ram Manas, Sampath Chinnam, Prathibha Narayanan, Ashok Kumar Shettihalli, Vijayakumar Kadappa, Divijendra Natha Reddy Sirigiri
Summary: This study analyzed the expression status of genes related to the infectivity and propagation of SARS-CoV-2 to assess the susceptibility of certain cancer patients to COVID-19 infection and subsequent complications. The findings suggest that patients with specific types of cancer are more at risk for COVID-19, and the genes responsible for severe COVID-19 are highly expressed in various cancer types.
Review
Cell Biology
Ioannis P. Trougakos, Kimon Stamatelopoulos, Evangelos Terpos, Ourania E. Tsitsilonis, Evmorfia Aivalioti, Dimitrios Paraskevis, Efstathios Kastritis, George N. Pavlakis, Meletios A. Dimopoulos
Summary: The article discusses the two-phase nature of COVID-19, highlighting the characteristics of increased virus transmission and uncontrolled inflammatory immune responses which can lead to severe complications. The focus is on approaches to suppress viral infection rates, activate adaptive immune responses, and mitigate tissue damage and cytokine storms associated with COVID-19.
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Silvia Martinez-Diz, Carmen Maria Morales-Alvarez, Yarmila Garcia-Iglesias, Juan Miguel Guerrero-Gonzalez, Catalina Romero-Cachinero, Jose Maria Gonzalez-Cabezuelo, Francisco Javier Fernandez-Rosado, Veronica Arenas-Rodriguez, Rocio Lopez-Cintas, Maria Jesus Alvarez-Cubero, Luis Javier Martinez-Gonzalez
Summary: This study investigates the role of ACE2, AR, MX1, ERG, ETV5, and TMPRSS2 in COVID-19, aiming to classify patients more effectively by understanding the disease mechanisms. The results demonstrate that besides TMPRSS2, higher expression levels of AR are associated with a decreased risk of severe COVID-19 in females. Additionally, functional analysis reveals that ACE2, MX1, and TMPRSS2 are relevant markers in COVID-19.
Article
Biology
Gi-Cheol Park, Hyoun-Wook Lee, Ji-Min Kim, Ji-Min Han, Hye-In Kim, Sung-Chan Shin, Yong-il Cheon, Eui-Suk Sung, Minhyung Lee, Jin-Choon Lee, Dong-Min Shin, Byung-Joo Lee
Summary: ACE2 and TMPRSS2 proteins were not expressed in thyroid follicular cells, but were found in thyroidal pericytes instead. This study indicates that SARS-CoV-2 does not directly infect thyroid follicular cells, suggesting that microcirculatory damage caused by pericyte infection might play a role in COVID-19-related thyroid dysfunction. Further research is needed to explore the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pericytes in relation to thyroid complications.
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
Gi Cheol Park, Soo-Young Bang, Hyoun Wook Lee, Kyung Un Choi, Ji Min Kim, Sung-Chan Shin, Yong-il Cheon, Eui-Suk Sung, Minhyung Lee, Jin-Choon Lee, Hyung-Sik Kim, Byung-Joo Lee
Summary: This study investigated the distribution of ACE2- and TMPRSS2-expressing cells in various oral tissues and found that SARS-CoV-2 can invade the oral mucosa, taste buds, trigeminal nerve, parotid gland, and microvessels, leading to oral manifestations.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hyung Muk Choi, Soo Youn Moon, Hyung In Yang, Kyoung Soo Kim
Summary: COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has become a global pandemic. Severe patients lack definitive treatment, only symptomatic drugs are used based on clinician experience. Basic medical researchers are exploring the pathogenesis of COVID-19.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Andrew L. Schmidt, Matthew D. Tucker, Ziad Bakouny, Chris Labaki, Chih-Yuan Hsu, Yu Shyr, Andrew J. Armstrong, Tomasz M. Beer, Ragneel R. Bijjula, Mehmet A. Bilen, Cindy F. Connell, Scott Joseph Dawsey, Bryan Faller, Xin Gao, Benjamin A. Gartrell, David Gill, Shuchi Gulati, Susan Halabi, Clara Hwang, Monika Joshi, Ali Raza Khaki, Harry Menon, Michael J. Morris, Matthew Puc, Karen B. Russell, Neil J. Shah, Nima Sharifi, Justin Shaya, Michael T. Schweizer, John Steinharter, Elizabeth M. Wulff-Burchfield, Wenxin Xu, Jay Zhu, Sanjay Mishra, Petros Grivas, Brian I. Rini, Jeremy Lyle Warner, Tian Zhang, Toni K. Choueiri, Shilpa Gupta, Rana R. McKay
Summary: This cohort study found that the use of ADT was not associated with decreased mortality from SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with prostate cancer. Ongoing clinical trials will provide further evidence on the role of ADT or other androgen-targeted therapies in reducing the severity of COVID-19 infection.
Article
Immunology
Drucilla J. Roberts, Lisa M. Bebell, Andrea G. Edlow
Summary: The study demonstrates that ACE2 and TMPRSS2 have specific localization and expression patterns in the placenta during late gestation. Early gestation pregnancies may be more vulnerable to infection compared to later gestation pregnancies.
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Pathology
Arthur Colson, Christophe L. Depoix, Geraldine Dessilly, Pamela Baldin, Olivier Danhaive, Corinne Hubinont, Pierre Sonveaux, Frederic Debieve
Summary: The study found that only one case of placental infection was detected in 31 coronavirus disease 2019-positive mothers, which was associated with intrauterine demise of the fetus. Trophoblasts at term are unlikely to be infected by SARS-CoV-2, but concern is raised about preterm infection.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Virology
Abolfazl Adli, Mandana Rahimi, Reza Khodaie, Niloofar Hashemzaei, Sayed M. Hosseini
Summary: COVID-19 cases exhibit significant variations in manifestation and severity among individuals of different ethnic backgrounds and geographical locations. Factors such as population density, gender and age differences, and comorbid conditions may contribute to the differences in disease presentation. Genetic factors are believed to influence susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity. Various genetic polymorphisms are found to affect virus pathogenicity and host immunity.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Li Wang, Lei Jiang, Dongyan Pan, Qinghua Wang, Zeyu Yin, Zijian Kang, Haoran Tian, Xuqiang Geng, Jinsong Shao, Wenjie Pan, Jian Yin, Li Fang, Yue Wang, Weide Zhang, Zhixiu Li, Jun Zheng, Wenxin Hu, Yunbao Pan, Dong Yu, Shicheng Guo, Wei Lu, Qiang Li, Yunyun Zhou, Huji Xu
Summary: Researchers have developed a novel natural language processing method to automatically identify the associations between the novel coronavirus and cardiovascular and endocrine organ systems and diseases. They have also found important pathways related to inflammation, lipogenesis, and oxidative stress mechanisms, suggesting potential drug candidates.
BIOMEDICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Review
Virology
Efstathios S. Giotis, Emine Cil, Greg N. Brooke
Summary: COVID-19 has caused over 6.5 million deaths worldwide. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with increased transmissibility and/or virulence, as well as immune and vaccine escape capabilities, highlights the urgent need for effective antiviral treatments. Men are more susceptible to the virus and have higher rates of severe disease, hospitalization, and mortality, which is associated with sex steroid hormones, particularly androgens. Modulating androgen signaling may be a promising strategy to prevent viral infection and antiandrogens could be used early in COVID-19 to mitigate the disease.
Article
Medical Laboratory Technology
Maria Westerhoff, Dan Jones, Steven M. Hrycaj, May P. Chan, Liron Pantanowitz, Huolin Tu, Karen Choi, Joel Greenson, Laura Lamps
Summary: This study evaluated the histopathology and in situ hybridization for SARS-CoV-2 in gastrointestinal samples from COVID-19 patients. The findings suggest a varied range of gastrointestinal manifestations in patients with COVID-19, but no distinct histologic findings were identified.
ARCHIVES OF PATHOLOGY & LABORATORY MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Aleksei Zarubin, Vadim Stepanov, Anton Markov, Nikita Kolesnikov, Andrey Marusin, Irina Khitrinskaya, Maria Swarovskaya, Sergey Litvinov, Natalia Ekomasova, Murat Dzhaubermezov, Nadezhda Maksimova, Aitalina Sukhomyasova, Olga Shtygasheva, Elza Khusnutdinova, Magomed Radzhabov, Vladimir Kharkov
Summary: The human serine protease serine 2 TMPRSS2 plays a role in priming proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and is a possible target for COVID-19 therapy. Functional missense mutations in the TMPRSS2 gene are found in many human populations, with higher frequencies in populations of Asian origin compared to European populations. TMPRSS2 exhibits tissue-specific expression, particularly in alveolar cells, and has interactions with SARS-CoV-2.
Article
Cell Biology
Rocio Diaz Escarcega, Pedram Honarpisheh, Gabriela Delevati Colpo, Hilda W. Ahnstedt, Lucy Couture, Shivanki Juneja, Glenda Torres, Guadalupe J. Ortiz, James Sollome, Natalie Tabor, Bhanu P. Ganesh, H. Alex Choi, Fudong Liu, Louise D. McCullough, Andrey S. Tsvetkov
Summary: The study finds sex differences in metabolism and sexual dimorphism in the correlations between clinical parameters and metabolic profiles in severe COVID-19 patients, providing important knowledge for the development of sex-associated biomarkers and druggable targets for COVID-19 patients.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Flora Zagouri, Alkistis Papatheodoridi, Michalis Liontos, Alexandros Briasoulis, Aimilia D. Sklirou, Efthymia Skafida, Oraianthi Fiste, Christos Markellos, Angeliki Andrikopoulou, Konstantinos Koutsoukos, Maria Kaparelou, Eirini Gkogkou, Ioannis P. Trougakos, Meletios-Athanasios Dimopoulos, Evangelos Terpos
Summary: Administration of a third dose of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 enhances protection in cancer patients receiving targeted therapies. Neutralizing antibody levels were lower in cancer patients compared to healthy individuals, but increased after the third dose. Antibody titers waned over time but remained above protective levels at 6 months post-second dose.