The novel COVID-19 outbreak has affected more than 200 countries and territories as of March 2020. Given that patients with cancer are generally more vulnerable to infections, systematic analysis of diverse cohorts of patients with cancer affected by COVID-19 is needed. We performed a multicenter study including 105 patients with cancer and 536 age-matched noncancer patients confirmed with COVID-19. Our results showed COVID-19 patients with cancer had higher risks in all severe outcomes. Patients with hematologic cancer, lung cancer, or with metastatic cancer (stage IV) had the highest frequency of severe events. Patients with nonmetastatic cancer experienced similar frequencies of severe conditions to those observed in patients without cancer. Patients who received surgery had higher risks of having severe events, whereas patients who underwent only radiotherapy did not demonstrate significant differences in severe events when compared with patients without cancer. These findings indicate that patients with cancer appear more vulnerable to SARS-COV-2 outbreak.SIgnIfICAnCe: Because this is the first large cohort study on this topic, our report will provide muchneeded information that will benefit patients with cancer globally. As such, we believe it is extremely important that our study be disseminated widely to alert clinicians and patients.

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Numerous short-lived and highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as O 2 · -(superoxide), · OH (hydroxyl radical), and H 2 O 2 (hydrogen peroxide) are continuously generated in vivo. Depending upon concentration, location and intracellular conditions, ROS can cause toxicity or act as signaling molecules. The cellular levels of ROS are controlled by antioxidant enzymes and small molecule antioxidants. As major antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutases (SODs), including copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and extracellular superoxide dismutase (ECSOD), play a crucial role in scavenging O 2 · -. This review focuses on the regulation of the genes (sods) coding for these enzymes with an emphasis on human genes. Current knowledge about sods structure and their regulation is summarized and depicted as diagrams.Studies to date on genes coding for Cu/ZnSOD (sod1) are mostly focused on alteration in the coding region and their associations with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Evaluation of nucleotide sequences reveals that regulatory elements of the sod2 gene reside in both the non-coding and coding regions. Changes associated with sod2 lead to alteration in expression levels as well as protein function. We also discuss the structural basis for the changes in SOD expression associated with pathological conditions and where more work is needed to establish the relationship between SODs and diseases.

The fungal family Clavicipitaceae includes plant symbionts and parasites that produce several psychoactive and bioprotective alkaloids. The family includes grass symbionts in the epichloae clade (Epichloë and Neotyphodium species), which are extraordinarily diverse both in their host interactions and in their alkaloid profiles. Epichloae produce alkaloids of four distinct classes, all of which deter insects, and some—including the infamous ergot alkaloids—have potent effects on mammals. The exceptional chemotypic diversity of the epichloae may relate to their broad range of host interactions, whereby some are pathogenic and contagious, others are mutualistic and vertically transmitted (seed-borne), and still others vary in pathogenic or mutualistic behavior. We profiled the alkaloids and sequenced the genomes of 10 epichloae, three ergot fungi (Claviceps species), a morning-glory symbiont (Periglandula ipomoeae), and a bamboo pathogen (Aciculosporium take), and compared the gene clusters for four classes of alkaloids. Results indicated a strong tendency for alkaloid loci to have conserved cores that specify the skeleton structures and peripheral genes that determine chemical variations that are known to affect their pharmacological specificities. Generally, gene locations in cluster peripheries positioned them near to transposon-derived, AT-rich repeat blocks, which were probably involved in gene losses, duplications, and neofunctionalizations. The alkaloid loci in the epichloae had unusual structures riddled with large, complex, and dynamic repeat blocks. This feature was not reflective of overall differences in repeat contents in the genomes, nor was it characteristic of most other specialized metabolism loci. The organization and dynamics of alkaloid loci and abundant repeat blocks in the epichloae suggested that these fungi are under selection for alkaloid diversification. We suggest that such selection is related to the variable life histories of the epichloae, their protective roles as symbionts, and their associations with the highly speciose and ecologically diverse cool-season grasses.