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Review
. 2020 Oct 5:884:173455.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173455. Epub 2020 Jul 31.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and SARS-CoV-2: Potential therapeutic targeting

Sourena Sharifkashani  1 , Melika Arab Bafrani  2 , Alireza Soltani Khaboushan  1 , Marzieh Pirzadeh  3 , Ali Kheirandish  4 , Hanie Yavarpour Bali  3 , Amirhossein Hessami  5 , Amene Saghazadeh  6 , Nima Rezaei  7
Affiliations
Review

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and SARS-CoV-2: Potential therapeutic targeting

Sourena Sharifkashani et al. Eur J Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a beta coronavirus that uses the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor as a point of entry. The present review discusses the origin and structure of the virus and its mechanism of cell entry followed by the therapeutic potentials of strategies directed towards SARS-CoV2-ACE2 binding, the renin-angiotensin system, and the kinin-kallikrein system. SARS-CoV2-ACE2 binding-directed approaches mainly consist of targeting receptor binding domain, ACE2 blockers, soluble ACE2, and host protease inhibitors. In conclusion, blocking or manipulating the SARS-CoV2-ACE2 binding interface perhaps offers the best tactic against the virus that should be treated as a fundamental subject of future research.

Keywords: ACE2; COVID-19; Origin; SARS-CoV2; Therapeutic; Transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

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.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The interaction between SARS-CoV-2 S protein and membrane ACE2.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Different therapeutic strategies directed towards SARS-CoV-2 binding to membrane ACE2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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