The SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 is expressed in mouse pericytes but not endothelial cells: Implications for COVID-19 vascular research.

Muhl L, He L, Sun Y, Andaloussi Mäe M, Pietilä R, Liu J, Genové G, Zhang L, Xie Y, Leptidis S, Mocci G, Stritt S, Osman A, Anisimov A, Hemanthakumar KA, Räsänen M, Hansson EM, Björkegren J, Vanlandewijck M, Blomgren K, Mäkinen T, Peng XR, Hu Y, Ernfors P, Arnold TD, Alitalo K, Lendahl U, Betsholtz C

Stem Cell Reports 17 (5) 1089-1104 [2022-05-10; online 2022-04-21]

Humanized mouse models and mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 virus are increasingly used to study COVID-19 pathogenesis, so it is important to learn where the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 is expressed. Here we mapped ACE2 expression during mouse postnatal development and in adulthood. Pericytes in the CNS, heart, and pancreas express ACE2 strongly, as do perineurial and adrenal fibroblasts, whereas endothelial cells do not at any location analyzed. In a number of other organs, pericytes do not express ACE2, including in the lung where ACE2 instead is expressed in bronchial epithelium and alveolar type II cells. The onset of ACE2 expression is organ specific: in bronchial epithelium already at birth, in brain pericytes before, and in heart pericytes after postnatal day 10.5. Establishing the vascular localization of ACE2 expression is central to correctly interpret data from modeling COVID-19 in the mouse and may shed light on the cause of vascular COVID-19 complications.

Bioinformatics Support for Computational Resources [Service]

PubMed 35452595

DOI 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.03.016

Crossref 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.03.016

pmc: PMC9022216
pii: S2213-6711(22)00149-7