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During the last 2 months, a novel conoronavirus [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)] infection or coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been identified, producing a global threat leading to more than 40 598 deaths worldwide [1]. Recently, by genome sequencing and homology modelling, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been found to be the receptor for SARS-CoV-2, despite amino acid variation at some key residues [2]. The extracellular domain of ACE2 was demonstrated as a receptor for the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV [3]. ACE2 is predominantly expressed on the apical surface of well-differentiated airway epithelia, especially ciliated cells [4, 5]. Since a virus must attach to and enter cells before it can replicate, surface expression of ACE2 and the state of cell differentiation may directly influence SARS-CoV disease pathogenesis [4]. ADAM17 is a disintegrin and …