Thymosin α1 modulated the immune landscape of COVID-19 patients revealed by single-cell RNA and TCR sequencing

Bai, Han; Liang, Liyuan; Qi, Xin; Xu, Yao; Liu, Yijia; Ren, Doudou; Cai, Zeqiong; Mao, Weikang; Wang, Xiaorui; Qin, Hongyu; Hu, Fang; Shi, Bingyin

doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110983

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…It has been used to treat a variety of illnesses, including chronic hepatitis B and C, (81)(82)(83), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (84), bacterial and mold pneumonia (33), sepsis (85,86), and, most recently, COVID-19 (80,(87)(88)(89)(90)(91)(92)(93)(94)(95)(96)(97)(98)(99)(100)(101)(102)(103). However, alongside beneficial effects (87,(92)(93)(94)(95)(96)(97), clearly supporting the use of Tα1 in COVID-19 via multiple immunityenhancing and anti-inflammatory protective mechanisms (95), no effects (98)(99)(100)(101) or poor clinical outcomes (102) were also observed in COVID-19 patients treated with Tα1, these being inconsistent findings to which the heterogeneity of the disease, including the gender (87,98,103), could contribute. Interestingly, Tα1 showed beneficial effects either in the acute COVID-19 phase or in reinfection even in elderly patients (89), thus pointing to a potential immunorestorative effect of Tα1 in aging, as suggested (104).…”

Section: Infectious Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic drug discovery: a case for thymosin alpha-1

Garaci,

Paci,

Matteucci

et al. 2024

Front. Med.

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Phenotypic drug discovery (PDD) involves screening compounds for their effects on cells, tissues, or whole organisms without necessarily understanding the underlying molecular targets. PDD differs from target-based strategies as it does not require knowledge of a specific drug target or its role in the disease. This approach can lead to the discovery of drugs with unexpected therapeutic effects or applications and allows for the identification of drugs based on their functional effects, rather than through a predefined target-based approach. Ultimately, disease definitions are mostly symptom-based rather than mechanism-based, and the therapeutics should be likewise. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in PDD due to its potential to address the complexity of human diseases, including the holistic picture of multiple metabolites engaging with multiple targets constituting the central hub of the metabolic host–microbe interactions. Although PDD presents challenges such as hit validation and target deconvolution, significant achievements have been reached in the era of big data. This article explores the experiences of researchers testing the effect of a thymic peptide hormone, thymosin alpha-1, in preclinical and clinical settings and discuss how its therapeutic utility in the precision medicine era can be accommodated within the PDD framework.

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