PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Federico Cocozza
AU  - Ester Piovesana
AU  - Nathalie Névo
AU  - Xavier Lahaye
AU  - Julian Buchrieser
AU  - Olivier Schwartz
AU  - Nicolas Manel
AU  - Mercedes Tkach
AU  - Clotilde Théry
AU  - Lorena Martin-Jaular
TI  - Extracellular vesicles containing ACE2 efficiently prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein-containing virus
AID  - 10.1101/2020.07.08.193672
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.07.08.193672
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/08/2020.07.08.193672.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/08/2020.07.08.193672.full
AB  - SARS-CoV-2 entry is mediated by binding of the spike protein (S) to the surface receptor ACE2 and subsequent priming by TMPRRS2 allowing membrane fusion. Here, we produced extracellular vesicles (EVs) exposing ACE2 and demonstrate that ACE2-EVs are efficient decoys for SARS-CoV-2 S protein-containing lentivirus. Reduction of infectivity positively correlates with the level of ACE2, is 500 to 1500 times more efficient than with soluble ACE2 and further enhanced by the inclusion of TMPRSS2.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.