SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are primarily expressed in bronchial transient secretory cells

The EMBO Journal, 2020

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affecting the human respiratory system
severely challenges public health and urgently demands for increasing
our understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis, especially host factors
facilitating virus infection and replication. SARS-CoV-2 was reported to
enter cells via binding to ACE2, followed by its priming by TMPRSS2.
Here, we investigate ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression levels and their
distribution across cell types in lung tissue (twelve donors, 39,778 cells)
and in cells derived from subsegmental bronchial branches (four
donors, 17,521 cells) by single nuclei and single cell RNA sequencing,
respectively. While TMPRSS2 is strongly expressed in both tissues, in
the subsegmental bronchial branches ACE2 is predominantly
expressed in a transient secretory cell type. Interestingly, these transiently
differentiating cells show an enrichment for pathways related
to RHO GTPase function and viral processes suggesting increased
vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our data provide a rich resource
for future investigations of COVID-19 infection and pathogenesis.

 

BioVendor´s Anti-Uteroglobin (CC10) antibody BVD-RD181022220-01 was used in this study.