The discovery of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) and the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) are causing public health emergencies. A handful pieces of literature have summarized its clinical and radiologic features, whereas therapies for COVID‐19 are rather limited. To evaluate the efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in COVID‐19 patients, we did this timely descriptive study. Six laboratory‐confirmed COVID‐19 patients were enrolled and received the transfusion of ABO‐compatible convalescent plasma. The efficacy of this intervention was determined by the alleviation of symptoms, changes in radiologic abnormalities and laboratory tests. No obvious adverse effect observed during the treatment. Transfusion of convalescent plasma led to a resolution of ground‐glass opacities and consolidation in patients #1, #2, #3, #4, and #6. In patients #1 and #5 who presented with SARS‐CoV‐2 in throat swab, convalescent plasma therapy elicited an elimination of the virus. Serologic analysis indicated an immediate increase in anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody titers in patients #2 and #3, but not in patient #1. This study indicates that convalescent plasma therapy is effective and specific for COVID‐19. This intervention has a special significance for eliminating SARS‐CoV‐2 and is believed to be a promising state‐of‐the‐art therapy during COVID‐19 pandemic crisis.

Deciphering the dynamic changes in antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is essential for understanding the immune response in COVID-19 patients. Here we analyze the laboratory findings of 1,850 patients to describe the dynamic changes of the total antibody, spike protein (S)-, receptor-binding domain (RBD)-, and nucleoprotein (N)-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) and G (IgG) levels during SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery. The generation of S-, RBD-, and N-specific IgG occurs one week later in patients with severe/critical COVID-19 compared to patients with mild/moderate disease, while S- and RBD-specific IgG levels are 1.5-fold higher in severe/critical patients during hospitalization. The RBD-specific IgG levels are 4-fold higher in older patients than in younger patients during hospitalization. In addition, the S- and RBD-specific IgG levels are 2-fold higher in the recovered patients who are SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative than those who are RNA positive. Lower S-, RBD-, and N-specific IgG levels are associated with a lower lymphocyte percentage, higher neutrophil percentage, and a longer duration of viral shedding. Patients with low antibody levels on discharge might thereby have a high chance of being tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA after recovery. Our study provides important information for COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine development.

Epigenetic alterations contributed to human carcinogenesis immensely. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is one of the most preventive and abundant modifications on RNA molecules present in eukaryotes. However, the biological function of m6A methylation in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains largely unclear. Here, we found that METTL14 was downregulated in CRC tissues and cell lines, and closely correlated with overall survival (OS). METTL14 knockdown significantly reduced m6A levels in total RNAs and promoted CRC cell growth and metastasis, whereas METTL14 overexpression markedly increased m6A levels in total RNA and inhibited CRC cell growth and metastasis. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR-375 was a downstream target of METTL14. We also verified that METTL14 suppressed CRC cell growth via the miR-375/Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) pathway, as well as inhibited CRC cell migration and invasion through the miR-375/SP1 pathway. Taken together, our studies showed an important role for METTL14 in CRC progression and provided novel insight into m6A modification in CRC progression.

Background: Males and females differ in their immunological responses to foreign pathogens. However, most of the current COVID-19 clinical practices and trials do not take the sex factor into consideration.Methods: We performed a sex-based comparative analysis for the clinical outcomes, peripheral immune cells, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) specific antibody levels of 1558 males and 1499 females COVID-19 patients from a single center. The lymphocyte subgroups were measured by Flow cytometry. The total antibody, Spike protein (S)-, receptor binding domain (RBD)-, and nucleoprotein (N)- specific IgM and IgG levels were measured by chemiluminescence.Results: We found that male patients had approximately two-fold rates of ICU admission (4.7% vs. 2.7% in males and females, respectively,P = 0.005) and mortality (3% vs. 1.4%, in males and females, respectively,P = 0.004) than female patients. Survival analysis revealed that the male sex is an independent risk factor for death from COVID-19 (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 2.22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3–3.6,P = 0.003). The level of inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood was higher in males during hospitalization. The renal (102/1588 [6.5%] vs. 63/1499 [4.2%], in males and females, respectively,P = 0.002) and hepatic abnormality (650/1588 [40.9%] vs. 475/1499 [31.7%],P = 0.003) were more common in male patients than in female patients. By analyzing dynamic changes of lymphocyte subsets after symptom onset, we found that the percentage of CD19+ B cells and CD4+ T cells was generally higher in female patients during the disease course of COVID-19. Notably, the protective RBD-specific IgG against SARS-CoV-2 sharply increased and reached a peak in the fourth week after symptom onset in female patients, while gradually increased and reached a peak in the seventh week after symptom onset in male patients.Conclusions: Males had an unfavorable prognosis, higher inflammation, a lower percentage of lymphocytes, and indolent antibody responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery. Early medical intervention and close monitoring are important, especially for male COVID-19 patients.