Oliveto, Giuseppe, Scagnolari, Carolina, Frasca, Federica, Sorrentino, Leonardo, Matera, Luigi, Nenna, Raffaella, Viscido, Agnese, Scordio, Mirko, Petrarca, Laura, Maria Zicari, Anna, Gentilini, Elio, D'Ettorre, Gabriella, Ceccarelli, Giancarlo, Midulla, Fabio, Antonelli, Guido, and Pierangeli, Alessandra
The recently discovered truncated, non-functional, ACE2 transcript (dACE2), but not the full-length ACE2 (f-lACE2), is induced by IFNs in differentiated airway cells. We measured expression of both ACE2 isoforms in SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative subjects, in relation to Interferon-stimulated genes. A significant activation of dACE2 transcript was found, in SARS-CoV-2 positive adults either hospitalized or not, showing a positive correlation with ISG15; f-lACE2 expression was weakly activated and not ISG-related. We confirmed a specific activation of dACE2 transcript in nasopharyngeal cells, related to the mucosal IFN response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]