The Spatial and Cell-Type Distribution of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor ACE2 in the Human and Mouse Brains

By engaging angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2 or Ace2), the novel pathogenic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invades host cells and affects many organs, including the brain. However, the distribution of ACE2 in the brain is still obscure. Here, we investigated the AC...

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Published in:Frontiers in neurology Vol. 11; p. 573095
Main Authors: Chen, Rongrong, Wang, Keer, Yu, Jie, Howard, Derek, French, Leon, Chen, Zhong, Wen, Chengping, Xu, Zhenghao
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 20.01.2021
Subjects:
ACE2
angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
brain
COVID-19
Neurology
SARS-coronavirus 2
COVID-19
ACE2
angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
brain
SARS-coronavirus 2
ISSN:1664-2295, 1664-2295
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:By engaging angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2 or Ace2), the novel pathogenic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invades host cells and affects many organs, including the brain. However, the distribution of ACE2 in the brain is still obscure. Here, we investigated the ACE2 expression in the brain by analyzing data from publicly available brain transcriptome databases. According to our spatial distribution analysis, ACE2 was relatively highly expressed in some brain locations, such as the choroid plexus and paraventricular nuclei of the thalamus. According to cell-type distribution analysis, nuclear expression of ACE2 was found in many neurons (both excitatory and inhibitory neurons) and some non-neuron cells (mainly astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and endothelial cells) in the human middle temporal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex. A few ACE2-expressing nuclei were found in a hippocampal dataset, and none were detected in the prefrontal cortex. Except for the additional high expression of Ace2 in the olfactory bulb areas for spatial distribution as well as in the pericytes and endothelial cells for cell-type distribution, the distribution of Ace2 in the mouse brain was similar to that in the human brain. Thus, our results reveal an outline of ACE2/Ace2 distribution in the human and mouse brains, which indicates that the brain infection of SARS-CoV-2 may be capable of inducing central nervous system symptoms in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Potential species differences should be considered when using mouse models to study the neurological effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Edited by: Torben Moos, Aalborg University, Denmark
Reviewed by: Konstantinos Kalafatakis, University of Ioannina, Greece; Kasper Bendix Johnsen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
These authors have contributed equally to this work
This article was submitted to Applied Neuroimaging, a section of the journal Frontiers in Neurology
ISSN:1664-2295
1664-2295
DOI:10.3389/fneur.2020.573095