Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
J Cell Physiol. 2021 Apr;236(4):2430-2442. doi: 10.1002/jcp.30041. Epub 2020 Sep 9.
COVID-19, a new disease caused by the 2019-novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has swept the world and challenged its culture, economy, and health infrastructure. Forced emergence to find an effective vaccine to immunize people has led scientists to design and examine vaccine candidates all over the world. Until a vaccine is developed, however, effective treatment is needed to combat this virus, which is resistant to all conventional antiviral drugs. Accordingly, more about the structure, entry mechanism, and pathogenesis of COVID-19 is required. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the gateway to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, so our knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 can help us to complete its mechanism of interaction with ACE2 and virus endocytosis, which can be interrupted by neutralizing small molecules or proteins. ACE2 also plays a crucial role in lung injury.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是由 2019 年新型冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）引起的一种新疾病，已席卷全球，并对其文化、经济和卫生基础设施构成挑战。为了寻找有效的疫苗对人群进行免疫，科学界不得不设计并检验全球各地的疫苗候选物。然而，在疫苗问世之前，我们需要有效的治疗方法来对抗这种对所有常规抗病毒药物均具有耐药性的病毒。因此，我们需要进一步了解 COVID-19 的结构、进入机制和发病机制。血管紧张素转换酶 2（ACE2）是 SARS-CoV 和 SARS-CoV-2 的进入门户，因此，我们对 SARS-CoV-2 的了解可以帮助我们完成其与 ACE2 的相互作用机制以及病毒内吞作用的研究，这些过程可以被中和小分子或蛋白所阻断。ACE2 在肺损伤中也起着至关重要的作用。
