Abstract
BackgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection occurs through binding and internalization of the viral spike protein to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor on the host cell membrane. Pathological changes are caused by damage and failure of vital organs that express high levels of ACE2, including the lungs, the heart and the kidneys. The aim of this study was to investigate ACE2 gene expression in the human male urogenital tract using a public database.MethodsA search of transcriptomic datasets from a database to investigate ACE2 gene expression in human urogenital tract tissue.ResultsThe gene expression profile demonstrated that ACE2 gene expression was higher in human kidney cortex and testis than human lung tissue. The gene expression profile demonstrated that ACE2 gene expression in the human bladder and prostate was comparable to human lung tissue.ConclusionsMale urogenital tissues are directly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection through the expression of ACE2. Moreover, the SARS-Cov-2/ACE2 interaction may disturb the male genital and reproductive functions.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection occurs through binding and internalization of the viral spike protein to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor on the host cell membrane
The genome of SARS-CoV-2 consists of 29,891 nucleotides, with an 89% identity to human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARSCoV) [10, 11]
The gene expression profile demonstrated that ACE2 gene expression was present in human urogenital tract tissues (Fig. 1)
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection occurs through binding and internalization of the viral spike protein to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor on the host cell membrane. SARS-CoV-2 causes the disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [1,2,3] It was first identified in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread to become a worldwide pandemic and public health emergency [1,2,3]. The genome of SARS-CoV-2 consists of 29,891 nucleotides, with an 89% identity to human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARSCoV) [10, 11]. SARS-CoV-2 infects the human cells by attaching to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), through its exterior spike (S) protein, modulates the expression of ACE2 and initiates tissue damage [10, 11]. ACE2 is a zinc metalloprotease which shares 42% amino acid homology with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in its catalytic domain, and consists of 805 amino
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