📄 Differential downregulation of ACE2 by the spike proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and human coronavirus NL63

The human coronaviruses (Co. Vs) severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and NL63 employ angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) for cell entry. It was shown that recombinant SARS-CoV spike protein (SARS-S) downregulates ACE2 expression and thereby promotes lung injury. Whether NL63-S exerts a similar activity is yet unknown. We found that recombinant SARS-S bound to ACE2 and induced ACE2 shedding with higher efficiency than NL63-S. Shedding most likely accounted for the previously observed ACE2 downregulation but was dispensable for viral replication. Finally, SARS-CoV but not NL63 replicated efficiently in ACE2-positive Vero cells and reduced ACE2 expression, indicating robust receptor interference in the context of SARS-CoV but not NL63 infection. Copyright © 2010, American Society for Microbiology.

keywords 🔗 severe acute (1373) 🔗 spike protein (353) 🔗 converting enzyme (162) 🔗 human coronavirus (623) 🔗 respiratory syndrome (2004) 🔗 angiotensin-converting enzyme (112) 🔗 acute respiratory (1734) 🔗 viral replication (258)

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