This receptor is a type I transmembrane protein bearing a catalytic zinc metalloprotein domain in the amino-terminal that shows 41.8% sequence identity with ACE.

Amongst the two domains, the catalytic extracellular domain is the amino acid domain. It is a homolog of ACE, containing 805 amino acids with carboxy-terminal and amino-terminal domains. The ACE2 receptors are ubiquitous within the human body, particularly overexpressed on intestinal epithelial cells of the gut, endothelial and smooth cells of the blood vessels, heart (epicardia, adipocytes, fibroblasts, myocytes, coronary arteries), lung (macrophages, bronchial and tracheal epithelial cells, type 2 pneumocytes), brain, testis, and on tubular epithelial cells of kidney. To continue our discussion, the connecting section of the article emphasizes an overview of ACE2 inhibitors. Thus, the present article is aimed to discuss the ACE-2 receptors and their role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 disease. Several points, like mode of intracellular penetration of SARS-CoV-2, complicated interaction of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) system including alteration in ACE-2 concentration during COVID disease proposes that ACE2 targeted strategy could be employed as a potential therapeutic intervention for the treatment of COVID-19 disease. Although limited small molecules have revealed efficacy during in vitro studies, not many have proceeded to detailed pre-clinical or randomized human trials, hence, have restricted progress to counteract COVID-19 disease. Continuous researches are ongoing to obtain either licensed vaccines to combat this infectious situation or any direct-acting antiviral drugs.

Eventually, this pertinent infectious pandemic was so-called “Coronavirus Disease-2019” or in short ‘COVID-19’ by WHO. Despite extreme measures along with the controlled movement of people, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it as a global health emergency. Therefore, the present review has focused on several raised opinions associated with the role of the ACE2 receptor and its impact on COVID-19 pathogenesis.Ī storm of enduring coronavirus menace that appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province of China has now spread all around the world. The varying level of manifestation and importance of ACE proteins, underlying irregularities and disorders, intake of specific medications, and persistence of assured genomic variants at the ACE genes are potential questions raising nowadays while observing the marked alteration in response to the SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. Therefore, studies on the molecular origin and pathophysiology of the cell response in correlation to the role of ACE2 receptors to these viruses are bringing novel theories. The recent pandemic of COVID-19 has attracted the attention of numerous researchers on ACE2 receptors, where the causative viral particle, SARS-CoV-2, is established to exploit these receptors for permitting their entry into the human cells. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and its homologue, ACE2, are commonly allied with hypertension, renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system pathway, and other cardiovascular system disorders.

Spike protein function