RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The spatial and cell-type distribution of SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 in human and mouse brain
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.04.07.030650
DO 10.1101/2020.04.07.030650
A1 Rongrong Chen
A1 Keer Wang
A1 Jie Yu
A1 Derek Howard
A1 Leon French
A1 Zhong Chen
A1 Chengping Wen
A1 Zhenghao Xu
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/15/2020.04.07.030650.abstract
AB By engaging angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2 or Ace2), the novel pathogenic SARS-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may invade host cells in many organs, including the brain. However, the distribution of ACE2 in the brain is still obscure. Here we investigated the ACE2 expression in the brain by analyzing data from publicly available brain transcriptome databases. According to our spatial distribution analysis, ACE2 was relatively highly expressed in some brain locations, such as the choroid plexus and paraventricular nuclei of the thalamus. According to cell-type distribution analysis, nuclear expression of ACE2 was found in many neurons (both excitatory and inhibitory neurons) and some non-neuron cells (mainly astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and endothelial cells) in human middle temporal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex. A few ACE2-expressing nuclei were found in a hippocampal dataset, and none were detected in the prefrontal cortex. Except for the additional high expression of Ace2 in the olfactory bulb areas for spatial distribution as well as in the pericytes and endothelial cells for cell-type distribution, the distribution of Ace2 in mouse brain was similar to that in the human brain. Thus, our results reveal an outline of ACE2/Ace2 distribution in the human and mouse brain, which indicates the brain infection of SARS-CoV-2 may be capable of inducing central nervous system symptoms in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Potential species differences should be considered when using mouse models to study the neurological effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.