image: In the paper, "Cardiorenal tissues express SARS-CoV-2 entry genes and basigin (BSG/CD147) increases with age in endothelial cells," publishing in JACC: Basic to Translational Research, researchers found that cardiorenal tissues and endothelial cells express higher or comparable levels of SARS-CoV-2 associated genes to those found in lung or airway epithelium, supporting the idea that SARS-CoV-2 may infect the vasculature. view more
Credit: Ahmetaj-Shala, B. et al. J Am Coll Cardiol Basic Trans Science. 2020;5(11):1111-23.
In the paper, "Cardiorenal tissues express SARS-CoV-2 entry genes and basigin (BSG/CD147) increases with age in endothelial cells," publishing in JACC: Basic to Translational Research, researchers used publicly available gene expression data to determine the relative expression of key SARS-CoV-2 host entry/ processing genes in human cardiorenal tissues, including aorta, coronary artery, heart (atria and left ventricle), whole blood and the kidney and for comparison the colon, spleen and lung. They also investigated gene expression in endothelial cells and, for comparison, airway (nasal and bronchial) epithelium and leukocytes.
Researchers found that cardiorenal tissues and endothelial cells express higher or comparable levels of SARS-CoV-2 associated genes to those found in lung or airway epithelium, supporting the idea that SARS-CoV-2 may infect the vasculature.
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To see the full paper, email Nicole Napoli at nnapoli@acc.org.
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