Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Gene Expression in Breast Tissue.

OBJECTIVE: Binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor is a critical step for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV- 2) to mediate its entry into target cells. ACE2 is expressed in many human tissues, including the lungs. However, no research has demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 can infect human breast tissue. This study aimed to investigate ACE2 gene expression in human breast tissue using a public database.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A search of a public gene expression database was performed to investigate ACE2 gene expression in in human breast tissue.
RESULTS: The gene expression profile demonstrated that ACE2 gene expression was higher in human breast tissue than human lung tissue.
CONCLUSION: Our knowledge about coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is expanding rapidly. Clinicians are eager for vetted information regarding all aspects of this new illness, and this study demonstrates that the level of ACE2 expression in human breast tissue is higher than that in the lung tissue, a major target tissue affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection. This finding strongly suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection causes breast pathology. ©Copyright 2021 by Turkish Federation of Breast Diseases Associations.