COVID-19 pandemic and patients with cancer: The protocol of a Clinical Oncology center in Tehran,Iran

AimTo provide recommendations for the management of patients with cancer in the COVID-19 era.BackgroundThe current global pandemic of COVID-19 has severely impacted global healthcare systems. Several groups of people are considered high-risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection, including patients with cancer. Therefore, protocols for the better management of these patients during this viral pandemic are necessary. So far, several protocols have been presented regarding the management of patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, none of them points to a developing country with limited logistics and facilities.MethodsIn this review, we have provided a summary of recommendations on the management of patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic based on our experience in Shohada-e Tajrish Hospital, Iran.ResultsWe recommend that patients with cancer should be managed in an individualized manner during the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsOur recommendation provides a guide for oncology centers of developing countries for better management of cancer.     

Fungal co-infection in COVID-19 patients: Should we be concerned?

Critically ill COVID-19 patients have higher pro-inflammatory (IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis alpha) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4, IL-10) cytokine levels, less CD₄ interferon-gamma expression, and fewer CD₄ and CD₈ cells. This severe clinical situation increases the risk of serious fungal infections, such as invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, invasive candidiasis or Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia. However, few studies have investigated fungal coinfections in this population. We describe an update on published reports on fungal coinfections and our personal experience in three Spanish hospitals. We can conclude that despite the serious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 in many patients, the scarcity of invasive mycoses is probably due to the few bronchoscopies and necropsies performed in these patients because of the high risk in aerosol generation. However, the presence of fungal markers in clinically relevant specimens, with the exception of bronchopulmonary colonization by Candida, should make it advisable to early implement antifungal therapy.     

Characteristics of asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Jinan,China

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) is continuously and rapidly circulating at present. Asymptomatic patients have been proven to be contagious and thus pose a significant infection control challenge. Here we describe the characteristics of asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Jinan, Shandong province, China. A total of 47 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were recruited. Among them, 11 patients were categorized as asymptomatic cases. We found that the asymptomatic patients in Jinan were relatively young and were mainly clustered cases. The laboratory indicators and lung lesion on chest CT were mild. No special factors were found accounting for the presence or absence of symptoms. The presence of asymptomatic patients increased the difficulty of screening. It is necessary to strengthen the identification of such patients in the future.     

Arbidol/IFN-α2b therapy for patients with corona virus disease 2019: a retrospective multicenter cohort study

The spread of COVID-19 is accelerating. At present, there is no specific antiviral drugs for COVID-19 outbreak. This is a multicenter retrospective cohort study of patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection pneumonia from 3 hospitals in Hubei and Guangdong province, 141 adults (aged ≥18 years) without ventilation were included. Combined group patients were given Arbidol and IFN-α2b, monotherapy group patients inhaled IFN-α2b for 10–14 days. Of 141 COVID-19 patients, baseline clinical and laboratory characteristics were similar between combined group and monotherapy group, that 30% of the patients leucocytes counts were below the normal range and 36.4% of the patients experienced lymphocytopenia. The duration of viral RNA of respiratory tract in the monotherapy group was not longer than that in the combined therapy group. There was no significant differences between two groups. The absorption of pneumonia in the combined group was faster than that in the monotherapy group. We inferred that Arbidol/IFN - 2 b therapy can be used as an effective method to improve the COVID-19 pneumonia of mild patients, although it helpless with accelerating the virus clearance. These results should be verified in a larger prospective randomized environment.     

Shortlisting SARS‐CoV‐2 Peptides for Targeted Studies from Experimental Data‐Dependent Acquisition Tandem Mass Spectrometry Data

Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is a crucial tool for fighting the COVID‐19 pandemic. This dataset brief presents the exploration of a shotgun proteomics dataset acquired on SARS‐CoV‐2 infected Vero cells. Proteins from inactivated virus samples were extracted, digested with trypsin, and the resulting peptides were identified by data‐dependent acquisition tandem mass spectrometry. The 101 peptides reporting for six viral proteins were specifically analyzed in terms of their analytical characteristics, species specificity and conservation, and their proneness to structural modifications. Based on these results, a shortlist of 14 peptides from the N, S, and M main structural proteins that could be used for targeted mass‐spectrometry method development and diagnostic of the new SARS‐CoV‐2 is proposed and the best candidates are commented.     

Molecular Targets for the Testing of COVID‐19

The pandemic outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), spread all over the world in a short period of time. Efficient identification of the infection by SARS‐CoV‐2 has been one of the most important tasks to facilitate all the following counter measurements in dealing with the infectious disease. In Taiwan, a COVID‐19 Open Science Platform adheres to the spirit of open science: sharing sources, data, and methods to promote progress in academic research while corroborating findings from various disciplines has established in mid‐February 2020, for collaborative research in support of the development of detection methods, therapeutics, and a vaccine for COVID‐19. Research priorities include infection control, epidemiology, clinical characterization and management, detection methods (including viral RNA detection, viral antigen detection, and serum antibody detection), therapeutics (neutralizing antibody and small molecule drugs), vaccines, and SARS‐CoV‐2 pathogenesis. In addition, research on social ethics and the law are included to take full account of the impact of the COVID‐19 virus.     

Crystal structure of Nsp15 endoribonuclease NendoU from SARS‐CoV‐2

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is rapidly spreading around the world. There is no existing vaccine or proven drug to prevent infections and stop virus proliferation. Although this virus is similar to human and animal SARS‐CoVs and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoVs), the detailed information about SARS‐CoV‐2 proteins structures and functions is urgently needed to rapidly develop effective vaccines, antibodies, and antivirals. We applied high‐throughput protein production and structure determination pipeline at the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases to produce SARS‐CoV‐2 proteins and structures. Here we report two high‐resolution crystal structures of endoribonuclease Nsp15/NendoU. We compare these structures with previously reported homologs from SARS and MERS coronaviruses.     

Light controls stamen elongation via cryptochromes,phytochromes and COP1 through HY5 and HYH

In Arabidopsis, stamen elongation, which ensures male fertility, is controlled by the auxin response factor ARF8, which regulates the expression of the auxin repressor IAA19. Here, we uncover a role for light in controlling stamen elongation. By an extensive genetic and molecular analysis we show that the repressor of light signaling COP1, through its targets HY5 and HYH, controls stamen elongation, and that HY5 – oppositely to ARF8 – directly represses the expression of IAA19 in stamens. In addition, we show that in closed flower buds, when light is shielded by sepals and petals, the blue light receptors CRY1/CRY2 repress stamen elongation. Coherently, at flower disclosure and in subsequent stages, stamen elongation is repressed by the red and far‐red light receptors PHYA/PHYB. In conclusion, different light qualities – sequentially perceived by specific photoreceptors – and the downstream COP1–HY5/HYH module finely tune auxin‐induced stamen elongation and thus male fertility.