A Closer Look at ACE2 Signaling Pathway and Processing during COVID-19 Infection: Identifying Possible Targets

Pia V Sodhi; Francoise Sidime; David D Tarazona; Faviola Valdivia; Kelly S Levano

doi:10.3390/vaccines11010013

A Closer Look at ACE2 Signaling Pathway and Processing during COVID-19 Infection: Identifying Possible Targets

Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Dec 21;11(1):13. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11010013.

Authors

Pia V Sodhi¹, Francoise Sidime^{1

2}, David D Tarazona³, Faviola Valdivia³, Kelly S Levano^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Ekarus, New York, NY 10023, USA.
² Science Department, Helene Fuld College of Nursing, New York, NY 10035, USA.
³ Laboratorio de Infecciones Respiratorias Agudas, Centro Nacional de Salud Pública, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Lima 15072, Peru.

Abstract

Since the identification of its role as the functional receptor for SARS-CoV in 2003 and for SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, ACE2 has been studied in depth to understand COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. ACE2 is a widely expressed protein, and it plays a major regulatory role in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone System (RAAS). The key to understanding susceptibility and severity may be found in ACE2 variants. Some variants have been shown to affect binding affinity with SARS-CoV-2. In this review, we discuss the role of ACE2 in COVID-19 infection, highlighting the importance of ACE2 isoforms (soluble and membrane-bound) and explore how ACE2 variants may influence an individual's susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease outcome.

Keywords: ACE2; COVID-19; RAAS.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.