Elevated ACE-2 expression in the olfactory neuroepithelium: implications for anosmia and upper respiratory SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication

Mengfei Chen; Wenjuan Shen; Nicholas R Rowan; Heather Kulaga; Alexander Hillel; Murugappan Ramanathan Jr; Andrew P Lane

doi:10.1183/13993003.01948-2020

Elevated ACE-2 expression in the olfactory neuroepithelium: implications for anosmia and upper respiratory SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication

Eur Respir J. 2020 Sep 24;56(3):2001948. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01948-2020. Print 2020 Sep.

Authors

Mengfei Chen^{1

2

3}, Wenjuan Shen^{1

2}, Nicholas R Rowan¹, Heather Kulaga¹, Alexander Hillel¹, Murugappan Ramanathan Jr¹, Andrew P Lane^{4

3}

Affiliations

¹ Dept of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² M. Chen and W. Shen contributed equally to this article.
³ M. Chen and A.P. Lane contributed equally to this article as lead authors and supervised the work.
⁴ Dept of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA alane3@jhmi.edu.

Abstract

ACE2 protein is expressed at high levels in the human olfactory epithelium relative to upper airway epithelial cells. This may explain COVID-19-associated olfactory dysfunction, and suggests a SARS-CoV-2 reservoir site and potential intranasal therapy. https://bit.ly/3hxT0qm

Publication types

Letter
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
Betacoronavirus / pathogenicity*
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / complications*
Coronavirus Infections / metabolism*
Humans
Olfaction Disorders / etiology*
Olfaction Disorders / metabolism
Olfactory Mucosa / metabolism*
Pandemics
Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / metabolism*
Pneumonia, Viral / complications*
Pneumonia, Viral / metabolism*
SARS-CoV-2
Virus Replication

Substances

Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A
ACE2 protein, human
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding