ACE2 Expression Is Increased in the Lungs of Patients With Comorbidities Associated With Severe COVID-19

Author(s)

Pinto, Bruna G. G. ^[1] ; Oliveira, Antonio E. R. ^[1] ; Singh, Youvika ^[1] ; Jimenez, Leandro ^[1] ; Goncalves, Andre N. A. ^[1] ; Ogava, Rodrigo L. T. ^[1] ; Creighton, Rachel ^[2] ; Schatzmann Peron, Jean Pierre ^{[3, 4]} ; Nakaya, I, Helder

Affiliation

^[1] I, Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Pharmaceut Sci, Dept Clin & Toxicol Anal, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Washington, Dept Bioengn, Seattle, WA - USA

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Immunol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] I, Univ Sao Paulo, Sci Platform Pasteur, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Infectious Diseases; v. 222, n. 4, p. 556-563, AUG 15 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 36

Abstract

Patients who died from COVID-19 often had comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, and chronic obstructive lung disease. Although angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is crucial for SARS-CoV-2 to bind and enter host cells, no study has systematically assessed the ACE2 expression in the lungs of patients with these diseases. Here, we analyzed over 700 lung transcriptome samples from patients with comorbidities associated with severe COVID-19 and found that ACE2 was highly expressed in these patients compared to control individuals. This finding suggests that patients with such comorbidities may have higher chances of developing severe COVID-19. Correlation and network analyses revealed many potential regulators of ACE2 in the human lung, including genes related to histone modifications, such as HAT1, HDAC2, and KDM5B. Our systems biology approach offers a possible explanation for increased COVID-19 severity in patients with certain comorbidities. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/14933-2 - Integrative biology applied to human health
• Grantee: Helder Takashi Imoto Nakaya
• Support type: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants - Phase 2
• FAPESP's process: 18/21934-5 - Network statistics: theory, methods, and applications
• Grantee: André Fujita
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/50137-3 - Long noncoding RNA interplay with the host microbiome may determine mucosal influenza vaccine immunogenicity
• Grantee: Helder Takashi Imoto Nakaya
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/08216-2 - CRID - Center for Research in Inflammatory Diseases
• Grantee: Fernando de Queiroz Cunha
• Support type: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC
• FAPESP's process: 12/19278-6 - Systems biology of long non-coding RNAs
• Grantee: Helder Takashi Imoto Nakaya
• Support type: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants