Study explains multipronged SARS-CoV-2 attack and widepread COVID-19
infection

Date:
August 28, 2020
Source:
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
Summary:
A study of a gateway receptor for SARS-CoV-2 may help explain
the wide variety of symptoms and organs involved with SARS-CoV-2
infection and COVID-19. The results suggest that a multi-organ
infection with SARS-CoV- 2 may be via the angiotensin-converting
enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, which is found almost everywhere
throughout the body.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A study of a gateway receptor for SARS-CoV-2 led by Walter Lukiw, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, Neurology and Ophthalmology at LSU Health
New Orleans' Neuroscience Center of Excellence and School of Medicine,
may help explain the wide variety of symptoms and organs involved with SARS-CoV- 2 infection and COVID-19. The results suggest that a multi-organ infection with SARS-CoV-2 may be via the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
(ACE2) receptor, which is found almost everywhere throughout the body. The findings are published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology.


==========================================================================
To better understand the mechanism and pathways of SARS-CoV-2 infection
and susceptibility to specific cell and tissue types as well as organ
systems, the research team analyzed 85 human tissues for the presence
of ACE2 receptors.

ACE2 is a protein that is found on the surface of many immune and
nonimmune cell types. An enzyme, it is part of the system that regulates
blood pressure and fluid and electrolyte balance. It may also help
regulate cardiovascular, neurovascular and renal function, as well as fertility. ACE2 receptors act like locks on cells, and the SARS-CoV-2
spike proteins act like keys that open the locks letting the virus
enter cells to rapidly multiply. As well as controls, tissues tested
included lung, digestive, renal-excretory, reproductive, eye tissues,
and 21 different regions of the brain.

"Besides strong ACE2 expression in respiratory, digestive, renal-excretory
and reproductive cells, high ACE2 expression was also found in the
amygdala, cerebral cortex and brainstem," reports Dr. Lukiw. "This may
help explain cognitive deficits associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some
of the highest ACE2 expression levels were found in the pons and
medulla oblongata in the human brainstem, an anatomical region of the
brain containing the medullary respiratory centers, and this may in part explain the susceptibility of many CoV-19 patients to severe respiratory distress." The team further noted that ACE2 receptor activity was also
easily detected in the eye, suggesting that the visual system may provide
an additional entry point for SARS-CoV-2 invasion and that under certain conditions, eyeglasses or face shields may be as important as face masks
in reducing SARS-CoV- 2 transmission and infection.

"Several important research gaps remain," Lukiw concludes. "A real
danger of SARS-CoV-2 infection is not only its highly transmissible
and contagious nature and lethality, but also its simultaneous and
multipronged attack on many human cell and tissue types involving vital
and critical respiratory, immunological, vascular, renal-excretory and
neural systems as well as an unprecedented coordinated disruption of the complex neurophysiology, neurochemistry, neurobiology and neurology of
the cells of the brain and central nervous system (CNS) that normally
regulate these multiple physiological systems." The authors credit
the late Dr. James M. Hill (formerly a Professor in the Departments
of Microbiology, Ophthalmology and Pharmacology at LSU Health New
Orleans School of Medicine) with whom they had a longstanding research collaboration on the expression of the ACE2 receptors, including those
found in the Alzheimer's disease brain. Aileen Pogue, from Alchem Biotech Research in Toronto, also participated in the research data tabulation, bioinformatics and statistical analysis.

The research was supported by grants from Research to Prevent Blindness
(RPB); the Louisiana Biotechnology Research Network (LBRN); and NIH
grants NEI EY006311, NIA AG18031 and NIA AG038834.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Louisiana_State_University_Health_Sciences_Center. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Walter J. Lukiw, Aileen Pogue, James M. Hill. SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity
and
Neurological Targets in the Brain. Cellular and Molecular
Neurobiology, 2020; DOI: 10.1007/s10571-020-00947-7 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200828115353.htm

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