Fucoidan sulfate from Sargassum fusiforme regulates the SARS-CoV-2 receptor AXL expression in human embryonic lung diploid fibroblast cells
Xuqiang ZHOU, Weihua JIN, Di JIANG, Yipeng XU, Sanying WANG, Xinna WU, Yunchuang CHANG, Huili SU, Tianjun ZHU, Xiaogang XU, Genxiang MAO
College of Life Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Geriatrics & Geriatrics Institute of Zhejiang Province, Department of Geriatrics, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou 310030, China; College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China; Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, the Key Laboratory of Zhejiang Province for Aptamers and Theranostics, Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310022, China; School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
xuxg@zju.edu.cn, maogenxiang@163.com
Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global infectious disease that seriously endangers human life and health and affects normal social activities. Since the pandemic outbreak from December 2019 to February 2023, the total number of confirmed cases has exceeded 753 million, and the deaths caused by COVID-19 have reached 6.6 million (https://covid19.who.int; accessed on Feb. 16, 2023). Currently, supportive therapy is the primary treatment for patients, as some antiviral drugs have demonstrated significant side effects during clinical treatment. Although vaccination has a particular effect on the prevention of novel coronavirus infection and the emergence of severe diseases, the variation in the virus strain caused the vaccine’s protective effect to be greatly weakened or lost. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify safe and effective drugs to prevent and cure COVID-19. Relevant research and exploration can also provide a reference for drug screening with which to address similar infectious diseases and public health events in the future.