Paclitaxel (taxol), a chemotherapeutic agent, remains the standard of care for the lethal triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, over 50% of TNBC patients become resistant to chemotherapy and, to date, no solution is available. CR6-interacting factor 1 (CRIF1) is reported to act as a negative regulator of the cell cycle by interacting with cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2). In our study, two selective CRIF1–CDK2 interface inhibitors were used to investigate whether they could exert anti-proliferative activity on the TNBC cell lines. When combined with taxol treatment, these two inhibitors can advance the cells from G0/G1 to S and G2/M phases, producing irreparable damage to the cells, which then undergo apoptosis. Moreover, they enhanced the reduction in cell proliferation induced by taxol in TNBC cells, thereby improving sensitivity to taxol in these cell lines. Importantly, the inhibitors did not regulate the cell cycle in normal cells, indicating their high selectivity towards TNBC cells. Overall, the resistance to the anti-proliferative effects induced by taxol can be significantly reduced by the combined treatment with selective CRIF1–CDK2 interface inhibitors, making a conceptual advance in the CDK-related cancer treatment.

Since December 2019, the world has been incrementally invaded by SARS-CoV-2. Algeria is affected since February 25, 2020. In order to benefit from its experience, this study aims to describe the epidemic’s current situation and then retrospectively estimate its real burden. First, we described the epidemic’s indicators as; cases, deaths, and we computed the R0 evolution. Secondly, we used the New York City cases-fatality rate standardized by Algerian age structure, to retrospectively estimate the actual burden. The reported cases are in a clear diminution, but, the epidemic epicentre is moving from Blida to other cities. We noted a clear peak in daily cases-fatality from March 30, to April 17, 2020, due to underestimating the actual infections of the first 25 days. Since May 8, 2020, the daily R0 is around one. Moreover, we noticed 31% reduction of its mean value from 1,41 to 0,97 between the last two months. The Algerian Age-Standardized Infection Fatality Rate we found is 0,88%. Based on that, we demonstrated that only 1,5% of actual infections were detected and reported before March 30, and 20% after March 31. Therefore, the actual infections burden is currently five times higher than reported. At the end, we found that at least 0,2 % of the population have been infected until May 27. The under estimation of the epidemic’s actual burden is probably due to the lack of testing capacities, however, all the indicators show that the situation is currently controlled.