The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has presented unprecedented challenges to the healthcare systems in almost every country around the world. Currently, there are no proven effective vaccines or therapeutic agents against the virus. Current clinical management includes infection prevention and control measures and supportive care including supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilatory support. Evolving research and clinical data regarding the virologic SARS-CoV-2 suggest a potential list of repurposed drugs with appropriate pharmacological effects and therapeutic efficacies in treating COVID-19 patients. In this review, we will update and summarize the most common and plausible drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. These drugs and therapeutic agents include antiviral agents (remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, lopinavir, umifenovir, favipiravir, and oseltamivir), and supporting agents (Ascorbic acid, Azithromycin, Corticosteroids, Nitric oxide, IL-6 antagonists), among others. We hope that this review will provide useful and most updated therapeutic drugs to prevent, control, and treat COVID-19 patients until the approval of vaccines and specific drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2.

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Nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) are the most common type of skin cancers. Major risk factors for NMSCs include exposure to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Ursolic acid (UA) is a natural triterpenoid enriched in blueberries and herbal medicinal products, and possess anticancer activities. This study focuses on the impact of UA on epigenomic, genomic mechanisms and prevention of UVB‐mediated NMSC. CpG methylome and RNA transcriptome alterations of early, promotion and late stages of UA treated on UVB‐induced NMSC in SKH‐1 hairless mice were conducted using CpG methyl‐seq and RNA‐seq. Samples were collected at weeks 2, 15, and 25, and integrated bioinformatic analyses were performed to identify key pathways and genes modified by UA against UVB‐induced NMSC. Morphologically, UA significantly reduced NMSC tumor volume and tumor number. DNA methylome showed inflammatory pathways IL‐8, NF‐κB, and Nrf2 pathways were highly involved. Antioxidative stress master regulator Nrf2, cyclin D1, DNA damage, and anti‐inflammatory pathways were induced by UA. Nrf2, cyclin D1, TNFrsf1b, and Mybl1 at early (2 weeks) and late (25 weeks) stages were identified and validated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In summary, integration of CpG methylome and RNA transcriptome studies show UA alters antioxidative, anti‐inflammatory, and anticancer pathways in UVB‐induced NMSC carcinogenesis. Particularly, UA appears to drive Nrf2 and its upstream/downstream genes, anti‐inflammatory (at early stages) and cell cycle regulatory (both early and late stages) genes, of which might contribute to the overall chemopreventive effects of UVB‐induced MNSC. This study may provide potential biomarkers/targets for chemoprevention of early stage of UVB‐induced NMSC in human.

Redox imbalance is a major contributor to the pathogenesis of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer. Activation of the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-antioxidant responsive element (ARE) pathway is an intrinsic defense mechanism against oxidative stress. Flavonoids such as anthocyanidins, which are found abundantly in fruits and vegetables, have been shown to activate Nrf2. However, the epigenetic and genetic mechanisms by which anthocyanidins modulate the Nrf2-ARE pathway remain poorly understood in the context of skin cancer. In this study, delphinidin, one of the most potent and abundant anthocyanidins in berries, significantly inhibited 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced neoplastic cell transformation in mouse epidermal JB6 P+ cells by 69.4% to 99.4%. The mechanism was elucidated based on observations of increased ARE-driven luciferase activity and elevated mRNA and protein expression of Nrf2 downstream genes, such as heme oxygenase-1 (Ho-1), in JB6 P+ cells. Activation of the Nrf2-ARE pathway was correlated with demethylation of 15 CpG sites in the mouse Nrf2 promoter region between nt −1226 and −863 from the transcription start site. The reduced CpG methylation ratio in the Nrf2 promoter region was consistent with observed decreases in the protein expression of DNA methyltransferases 1 (DNMT1), DNMT3a and class I/II histone deacetylases (HDACs). Overall, our results suggest that delphinidin, an epigenetic demethylating agent of the Nrf2 promoter, can activate the Nrf2-ARE pathway, which can be applied as a potential skin cancer chemopreventive agent.

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Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which accounts for one out of every five new breast cancer diagnoses, will progress to potentially lethal invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in about 50% of cases. Vitamin D compounds have been shown to inhibit progression to IDC in the MCF10DCIS model. This inhibition appears to involve a reduction in the cancer stem cell-like population in MCF10DCIS tumors. To identify genes that are involved in the vitamin D effects, a global transcriptomic analysis was undertaken of MCF10DCIS cells grown in mammosphere cultures, in which cancer stem-like cells grow preferentially and produce colonies by selfrenewal and maturation, in the presence and absence of 1a25(OH) 2 D 3 and a vitamin D analog, BXL0124. Using next-generation RNA-sequencing, we found that vitamin D compounds downregulated genes involved in maintenance of breast cancer stem-like cells (e.g., GDF15), epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion, and metastasis (e.g., LCN2 and S100A4), and chemoresistance (e.g., NGFR, PPP1R1B, and AGR2), while upregulating genes associated with a basal-like phenotype (e.g., KRT6A and KRT5) and negative regulators of breast tumorigenesis (e.g., EMP1). Gene methylation status was analyzed to determine whether the changes in expression induced by vitamin D compounds occurred via this mechanism. Ingenuity pathway analysis was performed to identify upstream regulators and downstream signaling pathway genes differentially regulated by vitamin D, including TP63 and vitamin D receptor -mediated canonical pathways in particular. This study provides a global profiling of changes in the gene signature of DCIS regulated by vitamin D compounds and possible targets for chemoprevention of DCIS progression to IDC in patients.

Chemotaxis of cancer cells is an essential component of tumor dissemination. The chemotactic response is comprised of three separate steps, including chemosensing, polarization and locomotion. We present an innovative approach on chemotaxis assay to address cancer cell chemotaxis. We applied a high-resolution optical tweezers system to manipulate epidermal growth factor (EGF)-coated beads positioned close to the filopodia, to locally stimulate HT29 cells expressing the EGF receptor (EGFR). We demonstrated that membrane protrusion at the leading edge induced by an EGF chemotaxis occurred at about 30∼40 s. In addition, the present observation revealed that the locomotion of HT29 cell depended on whether the HT29 cell sensed the presence of the chemoattractant EGF. We anticipate the proposed approach based on optical tweezers, together with the platform at single-cell level, could be applied to build a quick screening method for detection and treatment evaluation of many types of cancer during chemotaxis.