Department of Biological Informatics and Experimental Therapeutics, the Global COE program, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Circ J. 2010 Mar;74(3):405-10. doi: 10.1253/circj.cj-10-0045. Epub 2010 Feb 4.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a first homolog of ACE, regulates the renin-angiotensin system by counterbalancing ACE activity. Accumulating evidence in recent years has demonstrated a physiological and pathological role of ACE2 in the cardiovascular, renal and respiratory systems. For instance, in the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), ACE, AngII, and AT1R promote the disease pathogenesis, whereas ACE2 and the AT2R protect from ARDS. Importantly, ACE2 has been identified as a key SARS-coronavirus receptor and plays a protective role in SARS pathogenesis. Furthermore, the recent explosion of research into the ACE2 homolog, collectrin, has revealed a new physiological function of ACE2 as an amino acid transporter, which explains the pathogenic role of gene mutations in Hartnup disorder. This review summarizes and discusses the recently unveiled roles for ACE2 in disease pathogenesis.
血管紧张素转换酶 2（ACE2），作为 ACE 的首个同源物，通过平衡 ACE 的活性来调节肾素-血管紧张素系统。近年来越来越多的证据表明 ACE2 在心血管、肾脏和呼吸系统中具有生理和病理作用。例如，在急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）中，ACE、AngII 和 AT1R 促进疾病的发病机制，而 ACE2 和 AT2R 则可预防 ARDS。重要的是，ACE2 已被确定为 SARS 冠状病毒的关键受体，并在 SARS 的发病机制中发挥保护作用。此外，对 ACE2 同源物集合素的研究最近呈爆炸式增长，揭示了 ACE2 作为一种氨基酸转运体的新生理功能，这解释了亨廷顿病基因突变的致病作用。本文总结和讨论了 ACE2 在疾病发病机制中的新作用。
