SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are primarily expressed in bronchial transient secretory cells.
EMBO J
; 39(10): e105114, 2020 05 18.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-380778
ABSTRACT
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affecting the human respiratory system severely challenges public health and urgently demands for increasing our understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis, especially host factors facilitating virus infection and replication. SARS-CoV-2 was reported to enter cells via binding to ACE2, followed by its priming by TMPRSS2. Here, we investigate ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression levels and their distribution across cell types in lung tissue (twelve donors, 39,778 cells) and in cells derived from subsegmental bronchial branches (four donors, 17,521 cells) by single nuclei and single cell RNA sequencing, respectively. While TMPRSS2 is strongly expressed in both tissues, in the subsegmental bronchial branches ACE2 is predominantly expressed in a transient secretory cell type. Interestingly, these transiently differentiating cells show an enrichment for pathways related to RHO GTPase function and viral processes suggesting increased vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our data provide a rich resource for future investigations of COVID-19 infection and pathogenesis.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Bronchi
/
Serine Endopeptidases
/
Gene Expression
/
Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A
/
Single-Cell Analysis
/
Lung
Type of study:
Observational study
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
EMBO J
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Embj.20105114
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