Deciphering Ace2-mediated Sars-cov-2 Lung Infection
Description: Difficulty breathing due to severe pneumonia is by far, the most life-threatening emergency symptom reported for COVID19.This is because the SARS-CoV-2 virus accesses host cells via the enzyme ACE2, which is most abundant in the alveolar cells of the lungs. We aim to study SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 to identify the regions/residues critical for an efficient cell entry. We also aim to determine how the genetic variants/polymorphisms of main receptor ACE2 found in Spanish population and different tissues impinge on SARS-CoV-2 infection capacity. This have a clear therapeutic applications (e.g. development of ACE2 peptide comprising the critical region as a viral attachment inhibitor and prospective antibody generation) and can be easily transferred to the clinic as it could explain why different patients have a different susceptibility, symptoms, and outcome of COVID19 depending on the ACE2 polymorphisms. Finally in an unprecedented analysis of the COVID19 disease in human lung epithelium, we will make use of CRISPR/Cas9 to study how ACE2-dependent SARS-CoV-2 infection affects epithelial organization, cells most susceptible to infection and we will confirm the previous findings in a totally translational/bench-to-bedside approach
Funder: Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Amount: €25,000
Funding type: grant
Start date: 2021-11-07
End date: 2022-02-08
Investigator: Carlos Barcelo Pascual
Institution: FUNDACION INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACION SANITARIA ILLES BALEARS
Funded outputs count: 4
Funder award ID: COV20/00571
OpenAlex ID: G7236833117