Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2-at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic

ACE2 is the indispensable entry receptor for SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become one of the most therapeutically targeted human molecules in biomedicine. ACE2 serves two fundamental physiological roles: as an enzyme, it alters peptide cascade balance; as a chap-erone, it controls intestinal amino acid uptake. ACE2's tissue distribution, affected by co-morbidities and sex, explains the broad tropism of coronaviruses and the clinical manifestations of SARS and COVID-19. ACE2-based therapeutics provide a universal strategy to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infections, appli-cable to all SARS-CoV-2 variants and other emerging zoonotic coronaviruses exploiting ACE2 as their cellular receptor.

Automated summary

ACE2 is the essential entry receptor for SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, and it has become one of the most targeted human molecules in biomedicine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ACE2 plays two crucial physiological roles: it alters peptide cascade balance as an enzyme and controls intestinal amino acid uptake as a chaperone. The tissue distribution of ACE2, influenced by comorbidities and sex, explains the wide range of coronaviruses' tropism and the clinical manifestations of SARS and COVID-19. ACE2-based therapeutics offer a universal strategy for preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 infections, applicable to all SARS-CoV-2 variants and other emerging zoonotic coronaviruses that exploit ACE2 as their cellular receptor.