ArticleNature communications2020
ACE2 localizes to the respiratory cilia and is not increased by ACE inhibitors or ARBs.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 160 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
160 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 257 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mucosal immune response in biology, disease prevention and treatment.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of the clinical outcomes of ACEI/ARB in East-Asian patients with COVID-19.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors on disease severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19: A meta-analysis.Journal of medical virology · 2021Pooled it
- Review
- Coordinated immune-epithelial dynamics in the nasal epithelium protect against respiratory virus infection.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The primary cilium as a compartmentalized signaling hub in tissue immunity and homeostasis.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Primary cilium and TULP3-dependent ciliary targeting of ACE2 in SARS-CoV-2 tropism.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Article
- Targeting ACE2 with a camelid antibody inhibits SARS-CoV-2 binding and has protective effects in vivo.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Single-Cell RNA-Seq Identifies Immune Remodeling in Lungs of β-Carotene Oxygenase 2 Knockout Mice with Improved Antiviral Response.Nutrients · 2025Article
- [Epidemiological characteristics of human metapneumovirus and risk factors for severe pneumonia in hospitalized children].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2025Article
- Single cell transcriptional analysis of human adenoids identifies molecular features of airway microfold cells.Mucosal immunology · 2025Article
- Organoids: physiologically relevantJournal of virology · 2025Review
- ACE-2 blockade and TMPRSS2 inhibition mitigate SARS-CoV-2 severity following cigarette smoke exposure in airway epithelial cellsMolecular therapy. Nucleic acids · 2025Article
- Angiotensin‑converting enzyme 2 expression in human tumors: Implications for prognosis and therapy (Review).Oncology reports · 2025Review
- Variable DPP4 expression in multiciliated cells of the human nasal epithelium as a determinant for MERS-CoV tropism.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Reduced functional independence and multimorbidity increases the risk of severe infection among older patients with Omicron: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Human ACE2 transgenic pigs are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and develop COVID-19-like disease.Nature communications · 2025Article
- A Mouse Model of Ovalbumin-Induced Airway Allergy Exhibits Altered Localization of SARS-CoV-2-Susceptible Cells in the Lungs, Which Reflects Omicron BA.5 Infection Dynamics, Viral Mutations, and Immunopathology.Microbiology and immunology · 2025Article
- Infection to hypertension: a review of post-COVID-19 new-onset hypertension prevalence and potential underlying mechanisms.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Interplay between respiratory viruses and cilia in the airways.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025Review
100 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
39 authors at 10 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the ongoing severe acute respiratory disease pandemic COVID-19. Tissue and cellular tropism is one key to understanding the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2. We investigate the expression and subcellular localization of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), within the upper (nasal) and lower (pulmonary) respiratory tracts of human donors using a diverse panel of banked tissues. Here, we report our discovery that the ACE2 receptor protein robustly localizes within the motile cilia of airway epithelial cells, which likely represents the initial or early subcellular site of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry during host respiratory transmission. We further determine whether ciliary ACE2 expression in the upper airway is influenced by patient demographics, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, or medication use, and show the first mechanistic evidence that the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) does not increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection through enhancing the expression of ciliary ACE2 receptor. These findings are crucial to our understanding of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 for prevention and control of this virulent pathogen.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.