Nanjing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000, China; School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210000, China.
Nanjing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000, China.
Pharmacol Res. 2020 Jul;157:104833. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104833. Epub 2020 Apr 14.
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.
肾素-血管紧张素系统（RAS）对于所有器官的生理和病理都至关重要。血管紧张素转换酶 2（ACE2）作为负调节剂维持 RAS 的内稳态。最近，ACE2 被确定为严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）的受体，SARS-CoV-2 是导致 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行的冠状病毒。由于 SARS-CoV-2 在进入人体宿主细胞之前必须与 ACE2 结合，因此 ACE2 的分布和表达可能对 SARS-CoV-2 感染的靶器官至关重要。此外，越来越多的证据表明 ACE2 在组织损伤和几种慢性疾病的病理进展中具有重要作用，ACE2 在 COVID-19 的进展和临床结局中也可能至关重要。因此，我们总结了 ACE2 在各种生理和病理条件下的表达和活性，并在当前综述中讨论了其在 SARS-CoV-2 感染易感性以及 COVID-19 患者的进展和预后中的潜在意义。
