Faculty of Biosciences and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Andrology Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Mar 28;23(7):3694. doi: 10.3390/ijms23073694.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a protein widely expressed in numerous cell types, with different biological roles mainly related to the renin-angiotensin system. Recently, ACE2 has been in the spotlight due to its involvement in the SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells. There are no data available regarding the expression of ACE2 and its short-ACE2 isoform at the protein level on human spermatozoa. Here, protein expression was demonstrated by western blot and the percentage of sperm displaying surface ACE2 was assessed by flow cytometry. Immunocytochemistry assays showed that full-length ACE2 was mainly expressed in sperm midpiece, while short ACE2 was preferentially distributed on the equatorial and post-acrosomal region of the sperm head. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the expression of protein ACE2 on spermatozoa. Further studies are warranted to determine the role of ACE2 isoforms in male reproduction.
血管紧张素转换酶 2（ACE2）是一种广泛表达于多种细胞类型的蛋白质，具有不同的生物学功能，主要与肾素-血管紧张素系统有关。最近，由于 ACE2 参与了 SARS-CoV-2 进入细胞，因此备受关注。目前尚无关于人精子中 ACE2 及其短型 ACE2 同工型在蛋白质水平上表达的数据。在这里，通过 Western blot 证明了蛋白质表达，并用流式细胞术评估了显示表面 ACE2 的精子比例。免疫细胞化学检测表明全长 ACE2 主要表达于精子中段，而短型 ACE2 则优先分布于精子头部赤道区和顶体后区。据我们所知，这是首次研究表明 ACE2 蛋白在精子上的表达。需要进一步的研究来确定 ACE2 同工型在男性生殖中的作用。
