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Review
. 2020 Jul:157:104833.
doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104833. Epub 2020 Apr 14.

Physiological and pathological regulation of ACE2, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor

Yanwei Li  1 , Wei Zhou  2 , Li Yang  3 , Ran You  4
Affiliations
Review

Physiological and pathological regulation of ACE2, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor

Yanwei Li et al. Pharmacol Res. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is crucial for the physiology and pathology of all the organs. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) maintains the homeostasis of RAS as a negative regulator. Recently, ACE2 was identified as the receptor of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the coronavirus that is causing the pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since SARS-CoV-2 must bind with ACE2 before entering the host cells in humans, the distribution and expression of ACE2 may be critical for the target organ of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, accumulating evidence has demonstrated the implication of ACE2 in the pathological progression in tissue injury and several chronic diseases, ACE2 may also be essential in the progression and clinical outcomes of COVID-19. Therefore, we summarized the expression and activity of ACE2 in various physiological and pathological conditions, and discussed its potential implication in the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the progression and prognosis of COVID-19 patients in the current review.

Keywords: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; Coronavirus disease 2019; Diminazene aceturate (PubChem CID: 5284544); Resorcinolnaphthalein (PubChem CID: 337218); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Xanthenone (PubChem CID: 7020).

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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References

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