SARS-CoV-2 Receptor ACE2 Is Enriched in a Subpopulation of Mouse Tongue Epithelial Cells in Nongustatory Papillae but Not in Taste Buds or Embryonic Oral Epithelium.

ABSTRACT: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence revealed that SARS-CoV-2 infection caused taste loss at a rate higher than that of influenza. ACE2, the entry receptor of SARS-CoV-2, has been identified in the oral epithelium; however, it is unclear at what developmental stage ACE2 expression emerges and whether ACE2 is expressed in taste buds. To identify the specific developmental stage, we analyzed RNA-Seq data from embryonic and newborn mouse oral tissue. We found that robust ACE2 expression was observed in the newborn oral epithelium. In contrast, only extremely low levels, if any, of ACE2 transcripts in the embryonic stage oral tissue were found (E12.5 and E14.5). Analyses of three public scRNA-seq data sets of adult mouse tongue epithelial cells showed that

SUBMITTER: Wang Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7409941 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature