The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a signalling pathway thatacts as a homeostatic regulator of vascular function. Its systemicactions include the regulation of blood pressure, natriuresis, andblood volume control. ACE2 is a type 1 integral membraneglycoprotein, that is expressed and active in most tissues. Thehighest expression of ACE2 is observed in the kidney, theendothelium, the lungs, and in the heart. ACE2 is theangiotensin-converting enzyme II.
It has been reported that ACE2 is the main host cell receptor of2019-nCoV. It plays a crucial role in the entry of the virus intothe cell to cause the final infection.
One study (*) reports the ACE2 expressed on the mucosa of oralcavity. They analyzed RNA-seq profiling data of 13 organ types withpara-carcinoma normal tissues from TCGA, 14 organ types with normaltissues from FANTOM5 CAGE, and single-cell transcriptomes fromindependent data. They concluded that the oral cavity could be apotentially high risk for 2019-nCoV infectious.
TCGA - The Cancer Genome Atlas
FANTOM5 CAGE - The Mammalian Genome Cap Analysis of GeneExpression
(*) Xu, H., Zhong, L., Deng, J. et al. High expression of ACE2receptor of 2019-nCoV on the epithelial cells of oral mucosa. Int JOral Sci 12, 8 (2020).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41368-020-0074-x
Question: How can you design a project to study amechanism of RAS upregulation by 2019-nCoV?
Hint: You can choose one problem (for example, bloodpressure). Why are patients with high blood pressure moresusceptible to 2019-nCoV infection? How can you study theupregulation of the RAS pathway?
