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COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 infection of kidney organoids prevented with soluble human ACE2

Nature Reviews Nephrology volume 16, page 316 (2020)Cite this article

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The current COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This virus gains entry to host cells via ACE2, which is expressed by type 2 alveolar epithelial cells in the lungs and by cells in other tissues, including the heart, kidney and blood vessels. Researchers now show that SARS-CoV-2 can infect human blood vessel and kidney organoids and that this infection can be inhibited by human recombinant soluble ACE2 (hrsACE2).

To assess whether hrsACE2 — a decoy protein that has already been tested in phase I and II clinical trials — can inhibit the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2, Josef Penninger, Ali Mirazimi, Nuria Montserrat and colleagues administered the recombinant protein to SARS-CoV-2-infected Vero E6 cells. Treatment of cells with hrsACE2 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection in a dose-dependent manner and attenuated propagation of the virus.

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  1. Nature Reviews Nephrology http://www.nature.com/nrneph

    Susan J. Allison

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  1. Susan J. Allison
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Correspondence to Susan J. Allison.

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Allison, S.J. SARS-CoV-2 infection of kidney organoids prevented with soluble human ACE2. Nat Rev Nephrol 16, 316 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-020-0291-8

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