ACE2 diversity in placental mammals reveals the evolutionary strategy of SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: The recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the current pandemic of COVID-19, which uses the human membrane protein ACE2 as a gateway to host-cell infection. We performed a comparative genomic analysis of 70 ACE2 placental mammal orthologues to identify variations and contribute to the understanding of evolutionary dynamics behind this successful adaptation to infect humans. Our results reveal that 4% of the ACE2 sites are under positive selection, all located in the catalytic domain, suggesting possibly taxon-specific adaptations related to the ACE2 function, such as cardiovascular physiology. Considering all variable sites, we selected 30 of them located at the critical ACE2 binding sites to the SARS-CoV-like viruses for analysis in more detail. Our results reveal a relatively

SUBMITTER: Bibiana S O F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7278419 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan-Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature