Luo YW, Huang AL, Tang KF. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and hepatic SARS-CoV-2 infection: Regulation, association, and therapeutic implications. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(6): 100864 [PMID: PMC11752700 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i6.100864]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kai-Fu Tang, PhD, Professor, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology on Infectious Disease, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400016, China. tangkaifu@cqmu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Virology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 14, 2025; 31(6): 100864 Published online Feb 14, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i6.100864
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and hepatic SARS-CoV-2 infection: Regulation, association, and therapeutic implications
Yu-Wei Luo, Ai-Long Huang, Kai-Fu Tang
Yu-Wei Luo, Ai-Long Huang, Kai-Fu Tang, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology on Infectious Disease, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Co-corresponding authors: Ai-Long Huang and Kai-Fu Tang.
Author contributions: Tang KF and Luo YW designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Tang KF and Huang AL contributed to discussion of the manuscript; Luo YW contributed the review of literature; Tang KF and Luo YW contributed to the writing and editing the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82172915, No. 81972648, and No. 81773011; Chongqing Medical University Program for Youth Innovation in Future Medicine, No. W0084; and Science and Technology Innovation Project of Chongqing Medical University; and Chongqing Postdoctoral Science Foundation, No. CSTB2023NSCQ-BHX0134.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kai-Fu Tang, PhD, Professor, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology on Infectious Disease, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400016, China. tangkaifu@cqmu.edu.cn
Received: August 30, 2024 Revised: December 7, 2024 Accepted: December 20, 2024 Published online: February 14, 2025 Processing time: 133 Days and 0.3 Hours
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters host cells via the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Mounting evidence has indicated the presence of hepatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and liver injury in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Understanding the mechanisms of hepatic SARS-CoV-2 infection is crucial for addressing COVID-19–related liver pathology and developing targeted therapies. This editorial discusses the significance of ACE2 in hepatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, drawing on the research by Jacobs et al. Their findings indicate that hepatic ACE2 expression, frequency of hepatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, and severity of liver injury are elevated in patients with pre-existing chronic liver diseases. These data suggest that hepatic ACE2 could be a promising therapeutic target for COVID-19.
Core Tip: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) serves as the entry receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Jacobs et al discovered that elevated hepatic ACE2 expression during metabolic dysfunction may facilitate SARS-CoV-2 infection, which could potentially exacerbate the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), suggesting ACE2 as a promising therapeutic target for COVID-19.
