Wei Lin1, Jue Fan2, Long-Fei Hu2, Yan Zhang2, Joshua D Ooi3, Ting Meng4, Peng Jin5, Xiang Ding5, Long-Kai Peng6, Lei Song6, Rong Tang6, Zhou Xiao4, Xiang Ao4, Xiang-Cheng Xiao4, Qiao-Ling Zhou4, Ping Xiao4, Yong Zhong4. 1. Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China. 2. Department of Bioinformatics and Data Science, Singleron Biotechnologies, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210032, China. 3. Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, Monash University Department of Medicine, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia. 4. Department of Nephrology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China. 5. Department of Organ Transplantation, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China. 6. Department of Kidney Transplantation, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Since 2019, a novel coronavirus named 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has emerged worldwide. Apart from fever and respiratory complications, acute kidney injury has been observed in a few patients with coronavirus disease 2019. Furthermore, according to recent findings, the virus has been detected in urine. Angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) has been proposed to serve as the receptor for the entry of 2019-nCoV, which is the same as that for the severe acute respiratory syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the possible cause of kidney damage and the potential route of 2019-nCoV infection in the urinary system. METHODS: We used both published kidney and bladder cell atlas data and new independent kidney single-cell RNA sequencing data generated in-house to evaluate ACE2 gene expression in all cell types in healthy kidneys and bladders. The Pearson correlation coefficients between ACE2 and all other genes were first generated. Then, genes with r values larger than 0.1 and P values smaller than 0.01 were deemed significant co-expression genes with ACE2. RESULTS: Our results showed the enriched expression of ACE2 in all subtypes of proximal tubule (PT) cells of the kidney. ACE2 expression was found in 5.12%, 5.80%, and 14.38% of the proximal convoluted tubule cells, PT cells, and proximal straight tubule cells, respectively, in three published kidney cell atlas datasets. In addition, ACE2 expression was also confirmed in 12.05%, 6.80%, and 10.20% of cells of the proximal convoluted tubule, PT, and proximal straight tubule, respectively, in our own two healthy kidney samples. For the analysis of public data from three bladder samples, ACE2 expression was low but detectable in bladder epithelial cells. Only 0.25% and 1.28% of intermediate cells and umbrella cells, respectively, had ACE2 expression. CONCLUSION: This study has provided bioinformatics evidence of the potential route of 2019-nCoV infection in the urinary system.
BACKGROUND: Since 2019, a novel coronavirus named 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has emerged worldwide. Apart from fever and respiratory complications, acute kidney injury has been observed in a few patients with coronavirus disease 2019. Furthermore, according to recent findings, the virus has been detected in urine. Angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) has been proposed to serve as the receptor for the entry of 2019-nCoV, which is the same as that for the severe acute respiratory syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the possible cause of kidney damage and the potential route of 2019-nCoV infection in the urinary system. METHODS: We used both published kidney and bladder cell atlas data and new independent kidney single-cell RNA sequencing data generated in-house to evaluate ACE2 gene expression in all cell types in healthy kidneys and bladders. The Pearson correlation coefficients between ACE2 and all other genes were first generated. Then, genes with r values larger than 0.1 and P values smaller than 0.01 were deemed significant co-expression genes with ACE2. RESULTS: Our results showed the enriched expression of ACE2 in all subtypes of proximal tubule (PT) cells of the kidney. ACE2 expression was found in 5.12%, 5.80%, and 14.38% of the proximal convoluted tubule cells, PT cells, and proximal straight tubule cells, respectively, in three published kidney cell atlas datasets. In addition, ACE2 expression was also confirmed in 12.05%, 6.80%, and 10.20% of cells of the proximal convoluted tubule, PT, and proximal straight tubule, respectively, in our own two healthy kidney samples. For the analysis of public data from three bladder samples, ACE2 expression was low but detectable in bladder epithelial cells. Only 0.25% and 1.28% of intermediate cells and umbrella cells, respectively, had ACE2 expression. CONCLUSION: This study has provided bioinformatics evidence of the potential route of 2019-nCoV infection in the urinary system.
Authors: Matthew D Cheung; Elise N Erman; Shanrun Liu; Nathaniel B Erdmann; Gelare Ghajar-Rahimi; Kyle H Moore; Jeffrey C Edberg; James F George; Anupam Agarwal Journal: Kidney360 Date: 2021-11-05
Authors: Ian A Strohbehn; Sophia Zhao; Harish Seethapathy; Meghan Lee; Nifasha Rusibamayila; Andrew S Allegretti; Xavier Vela Parada; Meghan E Sise Journal: Kidney Int Rep Date: 2021-07-15